flboy wrote:Hi Hank.. :-)
Got the final 300W installed. I still need to wrap the red and black wires to keep the UVs off, but they are mounted well. All hooked up for a total of 800W. Enough to run the Air Conditioner straight up with good sun. In any case, I will get a fast charge on the battery bank whenever I do have sun.
I did hook up the three back panels in series so I am carrying less current on the longer run of wires but at a higher voltage. The front panels are wired in parallel. Pros and Cons for both ways... will see how this does.
Here is a look at the array on the roof. I need to clean the roof, but you can see how the install turned out in any case.
Installed with dicor tape and dicor self leveling sealer, but this is the wire access I installed. The wires go directly down to the 30a controller I installed in the electric closet. It is a little busy in there.
The electric closet got more wires and another DC breaker. This was the best place to put the second MPPT controller (you can see it on the bottom right side). I will add a switch later to switch readout to display by the door. Just going to add an A/B switch so I can use one monitor with the two controllers. BTW.. I do hang jackets and etc. in there and store a few things on the bottom. Dual purpose!
Here is the existing 40A controller for the 500W of panels up front.
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Ok.. have some real use feedback on solar panels wired in series vs. parallel:
I have used this new setup with the 3 100W panels in series for 36v to charge controller a few times now and will be rewiring them to parallel configuration. In cases where one panel may get some partial sun, it takes down the whole path to the lowest point. I can see the line drop advantage in full sun but for me and how I use my CTC, the panels in parallel work better. Just put in heavier gage wire to ensure little to no line loss.
My front panels which are wired in parallel noticeably outperform the rear bank in most scenarios.
Latest trip: https://youtu.be/9lZMppezhSM
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