grounding panels

Paul Klements
6 Posts
Jul 16, 2007 12:26 pm
grounding panels

I have questions about grounding solar panels. I'm a little confused about sizing the grounding wire. If I'm using 10 AWG MC 4 wire to the combiner. Will the ground wire be that size as well or is my ground wire sized to match the largest wire in the install? In this case I require 4/0 between battery and inverter. The other problem is the panels have no designated grounding hole. Should I use grounding lugs or will washers and self tapping screw suffice to hold the wire?
 
 
John B
163 Posts
Jul 17, 2007 11:59 am
Re: grounding panels

Paul,

The main purpose of the ground wire is to provide a path to earth for lightening strikes. It's protection for your panels and equipment, but will also serve to trip the breaker if you have a ground fault anywhere in your system.

I think most people use a #6 wire for grounding solar panels. I also think that is the minimum recommended size, but anything larger is difficult to work with and does not fit easily into the grounding lugs.
http://store.altenergystore.com/Cables-Wiring/Wiring-For-Solar-Panels/Aee-Grounding-Lugs-With-Set-Screws-Qty-1/p2343/

All you have to do is screw one of these anywhere into the many pre-drilled holes in the panel frame. It allows you to remove any one of the panels without disconnecting the ground from the rest of them.

John
 
 

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