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Stand alone Solar Project, Off-Grid Systems |
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For an off grid solar project, you will need to pickup the following items
Get what you feel you want or need for your project. Maybe a small roll of each of the
following or however many feet you think you will need, 10 AWG THNN or THWN wire
stranded Red, White, Black and some Green. Large wire for Earth Ground wire, Lay in lug
connectors, 6 AWG wire to ground your solar panels and other equipment. Flex conduit
depending on your requirements for your setup.
An electrical knowledgeable friend and myself developed a helpful voltage drop calculator.
Using his knowledge we came up with a good information only spread sheet in Excel format,
If you feel like playing with it click here Voltage drop Calculator. Remember to double check
the results. The larger the wire the better but the more cost.
Breakers
Out door breaker and box, or disconnect box and disconnect, to put on the solar panel array
if ground mounted. And a box to combine all the panel strings in to. You need to be able to
shut off the power at the solar array so the combiner box provides for this. You as well need
a breaker and box, DC voltage type right before the Charge Controller. Helps when you
need to shut down the array from inside. You should always shut down the solar array
before you disconnect the battery bank.
Next you may need to get a charge controller that can handle the amps you are going to be
putting through it. If you get too small of a controller you will just fry it. An MPPT charge
controller can down convert the voltage which helps keep the wire size down saving money.
MPPT is best known for being able to down convert voltage which can save you as much as
30% of power. With some brands up to a 150 volt solar array can be down converted to a 12
volt battery bank with little loss compared to a standard controller. An example is if you had
a 300 watt solar array with a standard charge controller you would loose a 100 watt module.
That alone would pay for the more expensive MPPT controller.
You need to check the National Electric Code and the local codes in your area before
buying anything. A good idea is to buy the book NEC 2005 or 2008 or latest version. Your
breaker has to be sized for the wire. A 12 AWG wire normally has a 20 amp breaker. If you
were to use a 60 amp breaker on a 12 gage wiring job and your TV shorted out. The wires
could get hot and burn down your home.
On the other side of the charge controller is the battery bank. You will need some large
wires “size depends on the current flow and how far the charge controller is from the battery
bank. Get a breaker and breaker box to match your needs. Flex wire is easiest to work with
but the price bites.
You will need to get a 120 volt power inverter for what ever your voltage is,120 or 240 volts
or what ever it is in your part of the world. I recommend a pure sine wave inverter . Some
digital clocks and bread makers and maybe some of your office equipment could have
problems of the crude wave form of cheaper inverters wave forms. Depend on the inverter
size and cable size used, put a fuse in the wire as close as you can get to the battery bank.
Follow this with 175 or 250 amp DC voltage breaker disconnect near the inverter. Having a
fuse in the works is not required that I know of if you have a breaker, but would be wise to
have. Keep in mind that you will be pulling as much as 150 amps and more at times from the
battery bank with a 2000 watt inverter at 12 volts. So some heavy wire will be needed. The
higher costing multi stranded is easier to bend around corners in conduit.
Click here for a Solar Power System checklist by John Wiles,
- Inverter, Modules, Battery and Charge Controller.
- 12 or 10 AWG THNN or THWN wire stranded Red, White, Black and some Green.
- A fused combiner box to combine all the solar panels strings in to two larger wires to
connect to the disconnect box - Wire connectors and tape
- Out door breaker and or disconnect and box for the utility connection
- 6 or 4 AWG THNN or THWN wire to connect the combing box to the disconnect
breaker. - Large wire for Earth Grounds and equipment ground connectors, Bare 6 AWG wire or
so to ground all your solar panels and your equipment. - Flex conduit and connectors should be water proof
- Indoor Breaker box before the charge controller
- Large AWG wire to the charge controller breaker box and back to the solar panels
(voltage loss) - Second indoor breaker box after the charge controller
- Large size cable going from the second charge controller breaker to the battery bank
disconnect switch/breaker/fuse - Battery bank disconnect switch/breaker/fuse or one of each
- Very large wire from the battery bank disconnect switch /breaker / fuse to the batteries
- Same size Very large wire going from the battery bank disconnect to the inverter.
- A electrical knowledgeable friend if you are not
- Voltage loss calculator of some kind to make sure your wires are sized correctly
- National Electric Code and Local Codes in your area
- Battery bank large enough to only discharge 50% in 24 hours of load
- Battery Box or enclosure
Get what you feel you want or need for your project. Maybe a small roll of each of the
following or however many feet you think you will need, 10 AWG THNN or THWN wire
stranded Red, White, Black and some Green. Large wire for Earth Ground wire, Lay in lug
connectors, 6 AWG wire to ground your solar panels and other equipment. Flex conduit
depending on your requirements for your setup.
An electrical knowledgeable friend and myself developed a helpful voltage drop calculator.
Using his knowledge we came up with a good information only spread sheet in Excel format,
If you feel like playing with it click here Voltage drop Calculator. Remember to double check
the results. The larger the wire the better but the more cost.
Breakers
Out door breaker and box, or disconnect box and disconnect, to put on the solar panel array
if ground mounted. And a box to combine all the panel strings in to. You need to be able to
shut off the power at the solar array so the combiner box provides for this. You as well need
a breaker and box, DC voltage type right before the Charge Controller. Helps when you
need to shut down the array from inside. You should always shut down the solar array
before you disconnect the battery bank.
Next you may need to get a charge controller that can handle the amps you are going to be
putting through it. If you get too small of a controller you will just fry it. An MPPT charge
controller can down convert the voltage which helps keep the wire size down saving money.
MPPT is best known for being able to down convert voltage which can save you as much as
30% of power. With some brands up to a 150 volt solar array can be down converted to a 12
volt battery bank with little loss compared to a standard controller. An example is if you had
a 300 watt solar array with a standard charge controller you would loose a 100 watt module.
That alone would pay for the more expensive MPPT controller.
You need to check the National Electric Code and the local codes in your area before
buying anything. A good idea is to buy the book NEC 2005 or 2008 or latest version. Your
breaker has to be sized for the wire. A 12 AWG wire normally has a 20 amp breaker. If you
were to use a 60 amp breaker on a 12 gage wiring job and your TV shorted out. The wires
could get hot and burn down your home.
On the other side of the charge controller is the battery bank. You will need some large
wires “size depends on the current flow and how far the charge controller is from the battery
bank. Get a breaker and breaker box to match your needs. Flex wire is easiest to work with
but the price bites.
You will need to get a 120 volt power inverter for what ever your voltage is,120 or 240 volts
or what ever it is in your part of the world. I recommend a pure sine wave inverter . Some
digital clocks and bread makers and maybe some of your office equipment could have
problems of the crude wave form of cheaper inverters wave forms. Depend on the inverter
size and cable size used, put a fuse in the wire as close as you can get to the battery bank.
Follow this with 175 or 250 amp DC voltage breaker disconnect near the inverter. Having a
fuse in the works is not required that I know of if you have a breaker, but would be wise to
have. Keep in mind that you will be pulling as much as 150 amps and more at times from the
battery bank with a 2000 watt inverter at 12 volts. So some heavy wire will be needed. The
higher costing multi stranded is easier to bend around corners in conduit.
Click here for a Solar Power System checklist by John Wiles,
| Grid Tie Backup by Price | Grid Tie Backup by Array Size | Grid Tie Only By Price | Grid Tie Only By Array Size |
An Off Grid is what would be called a stand alone solar power generator.
You will need the following list items and a few more. You can never plan it right and you will
never be able to go buy just the right amount of parts. I have tried and always ended up
going back for more. There is always something forgotten. Then you always end up with too
much and no use for it unless you are an installer.
You will need the following list items and a few more. You can never plan it right and you will
never be able to go buy just the right amount of parts. I have tried and always ended up
going back for more. There is always something forgotten. Then you always end up with too
much and no use for it unless you are an installer.
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