Small Solar System

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Posted by Patrick Guenette on September 04, 2008, 09:18:36 PM

Hello,

I bought ten 15 watt panels from Canadian Tire (The Eliminator ones...12v and 1amp). I also bought two deep cycle 100ah batteries, a 30 amp charge controller and a 3000 watt modified sine wave inverter.

Thought it would be straightforward to setup, but now that I have all the pieces, I'm not so sure.

On the box, it says "you can connect up to 10 panels together". - But the panels have nothing coming out of them except 1 cable with a little box with holes at the end. (assuming 1 negative hole and 1 positive hole). - But how do I connect them together so that I get a 12v, 10amp system?

Thanks,
Patrick

Posted by Tom Mayrand on September 05, 2008, 01:52:06 PM

Re: Small Solar System (Reply #1)

Patrick, twist all the positive wires together and then all the negative wires together. Then tie each of those two groups to a suitable gage wire that can handle the ten amps total. (Usually you use an electical combiner box that has screw contacts, a bunch for the smaller individual wires and one for the total output wire that will lead to your PV controller.)

Posted by John D on September 05, 2008, 05:24:14 PM

Re: Small Solar System (Reply #2)

And make sure you have HEAVY wire (maybe 4 or 6 guage) from the batteries to the inverter. Keep it as short as you can. With a significant load on the inverter, you're going to have high current there. For example: A 500-watt AC load will result in about 50-amps of DC current flow, assuming you have a 12-volt DC to 120-volt AC inverter.

Posted by Patrick Guenette on September 07, 2008, 09:04:28 AM

Re: Small Solar System (Reply #3)

Okay thanks ... Do you know where I can get one of those "combiner boxes" ?..checked home depot and rona...both said they had no clue what I was talking about ... Think it would be pretty messy to have 10 wires all twirled up together and then twirled onto a thick gauge wire...

And - To your point, 50 amps for a 500w draw.....

So this is a 3000w inverter that I have, and it says in the manual that it cannot handle anything higher than 12v DC from the batteries...

So if I am using it to let's say power a 2500w oven, then does that mean it would be drawing 208 amps from the battery? (2500w / 12v)...that's alot of amps!

Thanks, appreciate the help.
Patrick

Posted by Romeo Archie on September 07, 2008, 12:18:41 PM

Re: Small Solar System (Reply #4)

Hello Patrick, I am located in Mississauga Ontario, so I follow the CSA code. I have posted information as such in the members gallery area. Check it out and see if the information is usefull to you. It is not much different to the US NEC.

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