Starting a new system in the deep Jungle of South America

[AzRoute66]

Sorry about this question, it might be dumb.. Are you saying I dont need to tilt them at all?

If the latitude is right, from a power perspective straight up is your best fixed tilt. This time of year you might want to tilt them 5 or 10 degrees south just to help the rain water run off.

[bcroe]

Just to clarify, that curved array might be optimum for max hours at the equator. To be optimum farther
north, you would want to pick up one end of it to better face the sun at that latitude. Here at 42 deg N
that becomes an impractical construction, but can be mimicked other ways. Bruce Roe

[NEOH]

josuemolina2000 ,
I did not "mix & match" any panels that are at different angles.
Each angle / array went to its own Charge Controller.
The plan was to use the Charge Controller to bring each array online and take offline as the Sun & PV Voltage allowed.
If you mix & match panels ( your idea ) from different angles, then you may have "Shading" issues.
Do these PV Panels have Blocking Diodes?

[NEOH]

Just to clarify, that curved array might be optimum for max hours at the equator. To be optimum farther
north, you would want to pick up one end of it to better face the sun at that latitude. Here at 42 deg N
that becomes an impractical construction, but can be mimicked other ways. Bruce Roe

The OP lives in Equador, near the Equator, therefore the image is quite appropriate for a Fixed Ground Mount.

PV Panels installed at other latitudes have curved their arrays like this ...
http://media.oregonlive.com/portland...141fc19943.jpg

[josuemolina2000]

josuemolina2000 ,
I did not "mix & match" any panels that are at different angles.
Each angle / array went to its own Charge Controller.
The plan was to use the Charge Controller to bring each array online and take offline as the Sun & PV Voltage allowed.
If you mix & match panels ( your idea ) from different angles, then you may have "Shading" issues.
Do these PV Panels have Blocking Diodes?

I don't know if they have blocking diodes, but I do know that in the 20a old regulator, the sun power light stays on at night, like if it would be charging.
I guess the answer is, it doesn't have. And maybe is why the charge controller thinks is receiving sunlight but is actually drawing from the batteries.
I am just testing things out and keeping the batteries full.

But I think the 30a new PWM will stop that current to draw back to the panels.

I guess at the end, I will have to see where can I fit them, maybe just throw them at the top of my roof, all tilted 10% degrees south.

[NEOH]

josuemolina2000 ,

I am discussing "Shadow" issue with paralleled PV Panels at different angles - your new design.
I am not discussing battery draining back into PV Panels - which should be prevented by CC.

[josuemolina2000]

NEOH Oh ok, I have not installed them. But this is how the back of them look likes:
Each panel has 2 boxes. Each box has 2 cable "hook ups".
image_10123.jpg

1 Box has the -negative ground and the other has the positive ground. I only took the picture of 1 of the boxes, but the other is the same but it has the positive ground.

image_10124.jpg

I know, I have to do a lot of cleaning.

[NEOH]

But in the second photo, I see two wires ...
I see a long brown wire and short / cut-off blue wire ?

Is brown & blue typical colors for DC ( plus and minus ) in Ecuador?

Two J-Boxes?
Wow, that is very different.
Just guessing ... Parallel-In and Parallel-Out, for a Daisy Chain type of connection?
Panel <= 2 wires => Panel <= 2 wires => Panel <= 2 wires => Charge Controller

If that diode in the photo is connected in parallel with the 18 Volt plus & minus output then it is a Bypass Diode.
If that diode in the photo is connected in series with one 18 Volt output then it is a Blocking Diode.

From here, it looks like a Bypass Diode.

[josuemolina2000]

But in the second photo, I see two wires ...
I see a long brown wire and short / cut-off blue wire ?

Is brown & blue typical colors for DC ( plus and minus ) in Ecuador?

Two J-Boxes?
Wow, that is very different.
Just guessing ... Parallel-In and Parallel-Out, for a Daisy Chain type of connection?
Panel <= 2 wires => Panel <= 2 wires => Panel <= 2 wires => Charge Controller

If that diode in the photo is connected in parallel with the 18 Volt plus & minus output then it is a Bypass Diode.
If that diode in the photo is connected in series with one 18 Volt output then it is a Blocking Diode.

From here, it looks like a Bypass Diode.

Sorry for the cable color. they just gave them to me like this.

I am very confused. So far I only have used the negative part in 1 J box and the positive part in the other J box to connect panels parallel.
In the first picture you can see that only 1 cable comes out of each JBox. Which is what I used. The other spot I dont know what are they for or how to use them or wired them.

Is there a way you can explain it with pictures on how do I need to connect them? Thanks

The readings of 2 parallel panels connected where 18.7v and 9.59Amps. Full sun at equator.

[josuemolina2000]

I should have posted this in the first place. Maybe you can paint and draw on top of the pictures?

[NEOH]

I have never ever seen two J-Boxes boxes on one PV Panel before.
Is there an 18 Volt Plus terminal and an 18 Volt Minus terminal inside each J-Box then they are "electrically identical"
I don't know.

I was just "thinking out loud" ...
1) I wondered, why do they have two J-Boxes?
2) And what was their purpose for parallel wiring?

You can wire each PV Panel directly to the Charge Controller (we use a "Combiner" Box first)
http://solarloco.com/wp-content/uplo...n-parallel.jpg
This is called "Home Run" wiring - very common.
A pair of wires from each PV Panel back to a Combiner or Box / Charger Controller.
We only use one J-BOX for both wires.
These panels are very odd and one wire from each J-BOX may be OK for you.
I do not the answer.

Sometimes we combine the Wire Pairs one the way back to the Charge Contoiler like ...
http://cdn.solarpanelsvenue.com/wp-c...n-parallel.jpg

I had imagined this idea ( because there were blue & brown wires inside both J-boxes ) ...
Line up panels vertically in one tall row = one array at one angle
Panel [Top] <= 2 Wires => [Bottom] Panel [Top] <= 2 Wires => [Bottom] Panel [Top] <= 2 Wires => Charge Controller
That is called "Daisy Chain" wiring.
Very short wires between each Panel and then one pair of wires back to Charge Controller.
But the final panel would need to carry all 20 amps - which may be OK or not.
I cannot find any documentation on these panels
I have no picture for this "idea" - not common.

You can do whatever works for you.
There are multiple ways to do this.

[NEOH]

I should have posted this in the first place. Maybe you can paint and draw on top of the pictures?

OK, After looking at new pictures ....
It sure does like like one J-BOX is PLUS and one J-BOX is MINUS. ( very rare )
You can easily verify what each terminal does with volt meter.


1) Home Run - Run all 4 Pluses and all 4 Minuses, using 4 pair wires back to Charge Controller
2) Daisy Chain - Connect Panel 1 Plus & Minus to Panel 2, Panel 2 +/- to Panel 3, Panel 3 +/- to Panel 4, Panel 4 +/- to CC with one pair

Your choice

[josuemolina2000]

NEOH

Is there any limits of amps that the panels can handle in Daisy Chain parallel mode?
In my case I will be passing 5.74 x 4= 22.96 amps per array.
Or if I put 5 panels a total of 28.7amps. I am tempted to do this, as the panels wont be 100% efficient.

[NEOH]

I think you posted, 9.xx amps for two panels?
But I cannot locate that post.

So 4.5 amps each PV Panel?

4 Panels is ... 4.5 x 3 panels = 13.5 amps input + last panel = 18.0 amps output total into wire pair to CC
5 Panels is ... 4.5 x 4 panels = 18.0 amps input + last panel = 22.5 amps output total into wire pair to CC

Looks OK, but I have no specifications on your PV Panel.
Daisy Chain saves on length of wire.

[josuemolina2000]

Yes, that is correct. They seem to not get more than 5 amps each. So having 5 in a row will be 25 amps.
Will that be ok with the panels? I mean, how many amps can they take in parallel?

This are the specs:

http://www.posharp.com/i-10012-solar-panel-from-isofoton_p1887166558d.aspx