Diy Rv install

[Scottparrish3k]

I could use some help please.
I have 6x100watt 12v panels for my rv build. My plan is to run them in parallel.
My issue is: I wanted to have each panel on a breaker but then I got stumped as to how I can then run them in parallel after the breaker.
In a combiner box would I simply take the positive of panel 1 to positive buss bar, neg panel 1 to neg buss bar then
pos of panel 2 to neg buss bar and neg panel 2 to positive buss bar and repeat for panels 3,4 & 5,6 ?
Or is there a combiner/ breaker box that automatically can do this? Any feedback is appreciated.

[Mike90250]

to parallel all the panels.
Tie the - side to a buss bar. Each + lead goes to a breaker. The other side of the breaker goes to your + buss bar.
Be sure to use DC rated breakers, and that will be good. Now you have to decide if 6 panels is correct for your needs. There are some stickies in the off-grid section that help size your batteries to your loads, and your PV to the batteries.
Good luck

[Scottparrish3k]

to parallel all the panels.
Tie the - side to a buss bar. Each + lead goes to a breaker. The other side of the breaker goes to your + buss bar.
Be sure to use DC rated breakers, and that will be good. Now you have to decide if 6 panels is correct for your needs. There are some stickies in the off-grid section that help size your batteries to your loads, and your PV to the batteries.
Good luck

Thank you for the post but I'm still unclear how that puts the panels in parallel.
If all the panels wire to the breakers, I'm drawing a blank.
Could you please clarify, if each panel has a mc4 connector attached to it presently and I'm going to get mc4 extensions ...I think, stripping the other end and going to a breaker, as if I were doing my home AC work and since I've never seen a dc breaker I can assume from your post the positive wires from each panel are going to the breaker screw and each panel negative goes to the negative -bussbar

Could I get a dumbed down detail as to how I'm connecting the wires in parallel panel 1 positive to panel 2 negative etc etc. theres not much distance I want this to all happen in if I'm not mistaken so all of these panel wires get combined in parallel so I can get them combined and then to a large gauge wire to my charge controller.
Thanks again.

[Scottparrish3k]

Ok. I figured out what my issue was. I knew I wanted the panels run in parallel but going over everything in my head I got confused as my 6 volt batteries are to be hooked up series/parallel. So. I am all set with this question for now. Thanks.

[Scottparrish3k]

to parallel all the panels.
Tie the - side to a buss bar. Each + lead goes to a breaker. The other side of the breaker goes to your + buss bar.
Be sure to use DC rated breakers, and that will be good. Now you have to decide if 6 panels is correct for your needs. There are some stickies in the off-grid section that help size your batteries to your loads, and your PV to the batteries.
Good luck

My next guess is.... Am I making my parallel connection first and then I only have 3 breakers?

[Mike90250]

At this point you should stop working on this, and read up some basic electricity and solar wiring. If you are not able to grasp the concepts here, it is dangerous for you to be plugging wires into things and guessing what is going to happen, I can't teach this over the message board.
Midnight Solar has many good training videos

http://www.midnitesolar.com/videoDisplay.php

and they also manfuacture and sell top of the line gear. They have true DC breakers that will prevent large battery banks from starting a fire.
See their DC breaker video http://www.midnitesolar.com/video/vi...videoCat_ID=16
In the Off-grid section of this forum, we have many "stickie" topics but they do not cover basic electricity,

[Sunking]

I could use some help please.
I have 6x100watt 12v panels for my rv build. My plan is to run them in parallel.
My issue is: I wanted to have each panel on a breaker but then I got stumped as to how I can then run them in parallel after the breaker.
In a combiner box would I simply take the positive of panel 1 to positive buss bar, neg panel 1 to neg buss bar then
pos of panel 2 to neg buss bar and neg panel 2 to positive buss bar and repeat for panels 3,4 & 5,6 ?
Or is there a combiner/ breaker box that automatically can do this? Any feedback is appreciated.

You need to stop right now. Make sure your insurance covers FOOLS WHO BURN UP RV's WITH SOLAR. If you knew what you were doing you would now to wire the panels 3 in series with 2 strings in Parallel using a MPPT controller and no need for any fuses. Not only are you throwing money away, but a lot of wasted power (changing your 600 watt panels into 400 watts, and begging for a FIRE.

My bad on second thought, GOFER IT.

[Scottparrish3k]

You need to stop right now. Make sure your insurance covers FOOLS WHO BURN UP RV's WITH SOLAR. If you knew what you were doing you would now to wire the panels 3 in series with 2 strings in Parallel using a MPPT controller and no need for any fuses. Not only are you throwing money away, but a lot of wasted power (changing your 600 watt panels into 400 watts, and begging for a FIRE.

My bad on second thought, GOFER IT.

Sunking I looked up your past posts they all appear negative your life must suck. I do feel sorry for you. I'm glad the internet exists to make pieces of **** such as yourself, who feed off negativity and makes your/their lives worth living.
Although I will still research any and all avenues even if they come from a negative piece of ****.
Review your posts and you'll notice, I might not know solar but it's way better then being an internet ****bag.
Have a great day Sunking

[ButchDeal]

look, Sunking is actually trying to save your life/limbs. Sometimes it takes a smack in the head for people to understand that they have no idea what they are doing and that they are playing with something quite dangerous.

[sdold]

Getting advice from Sunking is sometimes like getting hit in the head by a falling object that turns out to be a big bag of money. His suggestions would simplify your system and end up getting you a lot more energy from the panels you have. After a while you'll be entertained by his posts like the rest of us

[Scottparrish3k]

Well, I wired my entire house after having a panel installed.
I created internet in Iraq from nothing by having a satellite shipped from Poland and meeting up with fedex in Bahgdad.
I'm pretty sure I can figure out my solar system, it's just unfortunate the internet is filled with trolls like Sunking. Keep laughing with Sunking that's what keeps the ****bags going in life. Anyways, 4 panels are up and if you see a big rv fire in MA you'll know I didn't wire my panels 3 in series with 2 strings in parallel. And quoting the ****bag Sunking if you look at his post. Its because I just don't "now" about solar. He's so worked up he can't spell
To me he's a dumbass.
Enjoy your day folks

[SunEagle]

My Scott is a very thin skinned individual.

I have to say anyone asking for answers for wiring practices concerning solar has not done any research and regardless of their other experience can get themselves hurt.

While Sunking may be a little brittle and offensive at least he does not use foul language that is screened out by the server software.

So stick around and learn or take a hike and hopefully you don't get hurt in the process.

[Scottparrish3k]

My Scott is a very thin skinned individual.

I have to say anyone asking for answers for wiring practices concerning solar has not done any research and regardless of their other experience can get themselves hurt.

While Sunking may be a little brittle and offensive at least he does not use foul language that is screened out by the server software.

So stick around and learn or take a hike and hopefully you don't get hurt in the process.

You should worry more how the new members are treated in your community so they would prefer to stick around, as I stated above I did mix up the terminology thats why Suneagle felt it necessary to chime in he's so wise, pretty soon I could have thousands of condescending posts.

I'm not seeing any real advice. You guys must just scare off the thin skinned newbies.
I have to say I came across this forum in my research
I wish I was born with the solar knowledge you guys were.

It is entertaining during my breaks to check in here now.

I can't really say this forum has been useful but I think the thin skinned individuals are the ones that can't handle the truth.

Thanks for the support.

[Wy_White_Wolf]

You a member of this group?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1254262/meet-generation-snowflake-the-hysterical-modern-kids-who-cant-cope-with-being-offended/

[sdold]

I'm not seeing any real advice.

It was up there in Sunking's post: "wire the panels 3 in series with 2 strings in Parallel using a MPPT controller and no need for any fuses" That's a big change for the better, it simplifies the system and produces more power.

[Scottparrish3k]

My plan was to get things setup and most likely add 2 more 100 watt 12v panels before I'm finished. My build completion deadline is mid September.
With 3 in series 2 parallel that puts my system at 36volts making the run more efficient over distance and being able to use slightly smaller gauge wire?
I have room for 2 more panels making a total of 8x100 watts at 12v make it 4 in series 2 strings in parallel?
I have a magnum pt100 which looks to be able to handle 12-48v
And a magnum 3012m inverter.


So I would love to have someone that enjoys solar thats interested in helping.

[sdold]

Take a look at the nameplate on the panels, they are likely to have a Vmp and Imp rating. Vmp is voltage at max power, probably around 18V for your panels. Imp is the current at max power, probably around 5.5 amps for your panel. They'll only put out maximum power under at those conditions. If you have several panels in parallel, the Vmp is the same, but the current adds accordingly.

That voltage would be OK with a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) charge controller. The panel would be dragged down to 12V though, so at 12V x 5.5 amps, you'd only get about 66 percent of the power out of the panel. At you load the panel more, the voltage drops, but the current stays roughly the same.

You have an MPPT charge controller instead though, which lets the panel work at 18V while keeping the battery charge voltage down where it should be. This extracts more power from the panel because it isn't pulled down to 12V.

The only problem is that the MPPT controller needs a higher voltage to operate. Yours looks like it needs to be at least 24V for a 12V battery system. Your panels can't do that in parallel, so they must be wired in series to produce more than 24V (but in no case more than 187V). That's good because you'll have less current for the same amount of power due to the higher voltage. I believe two strings of panels don't need to be separately fused, which makes it simpler, but double check that.

The only possible issue I see is that the size of this system might be better suited to a 24V battery. At 12V you'll have charge currents approaching 50A, even more if you add panels. That controller would need minimum 41V for MPPT operation with a 24V battery, but three panels in series is still well over that at 3 x 18V. The rest of the guys will have better thoughts on that.

Typically this project would start with determining the loads in watt hours per day, then sizing batteries from that, and solar array from that. Sunking wrote up some stickies, let me find the links if you haven't seen them already.

Here's my favorite, but there are several others at the top of the Off Grid Solar section of the forum:

https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum/off-grid-solar/off-grid-solar-panel-systems/5140-solar-off-grid-battery-design

[SunEagle]

You should worry more how the new members are treated in your community so they would prefer to stick around, as I stated above I did mix up the terminology thats why Suneagle felt it necessary to chime in he's so wise, pretty soon I could have thousands of condescending posts.

I'm not seeing any real advice. You guys must just scare off the thin skinned newbies.
I have to say I came across this forum in my research
I wish I was born with the solar knowledge you guys were.

It is entertaining during my breaks to check in here now.

I can't really say this forum has been useful but I think the thin skinned individuals are the ones that can't handle the truth.

Thanks for the support.

If you paid attention to what Mike told you in post #5 you would have gotten your answer.

What you have not provided is any information concerning your battery system other then the batteries are 6v and you have them wired in parallel pairs of two for a 12volt system.

If you do not match up the Ah rating of your batteries to the amount of charging amps you get from your solar panels you could easily kill off the batteries by over or under charging them.

To properly help someone to design a system it would be better to provide all the equipment information (panel, charge controller, battery system, inverter, etc.) so that we can give you the best advice. Just asking how to wire panels in parallel and how to connect them to a combiner box with over current protection is misleading and can get you the wrong advice.

So for us to be helpful please provide more information on your system equipment.