thats my slogan. if it had of been me trying to build the pyramids i would have laid the first block wrong got pissed off and left, lol. Aloha!! I hope to visit your beautiful island one day. I also live on an island, mediterranean stylee though so a little different to yours.

thanks man!!

24volt so thats 468 x 3 = 1404ah. when batteries are put in series the AH stay the same but the voltage increases. when you put batteries in parallel the voltage stays the same but the AH increase. mine are series parallel so really its just three 24volt batteries in parallel made up of 4, 6 volt batteries in series. to be 5000AH it would have to be a 6v bank with all of the batteries in parallel.

It can't...

I have it wired that way now as I have changed my charge controller. Originally my system was designed around my charge controller which didnt accept high voltage.

gracias Juan, traducir el video entero es mucho trabajo, mas facil es hacer un video nuevo. que es lo que quieres saber sobre el sistema? me alegra que te haya ayudado. saludos

Hola , no pasa nada , así mi mujer practicará su inglés . Si en alguna ocasión tuviese alguna duda pues te pregunto. Felicidades de nuevo por ese magnífico trabajo con la casa.

thanks mate!

The combiner box was already falling apart before i got started. There has been 0 pull on the wire as that was the first time i wired it up and if you notice, the din rail has come off on the opposite side of where the wire is connected. which would make no sense if it was the wire pulling on it. Ditto for the ground bus bar and the common. Also, that wire is so thick that it stands up by itself, it doesn't pull on anything... The wire Im using is 75mm2 which is the standard closest to OO here and just over OO (72mm). my wire is sized for the run that i have from the panels to the batteries and is the correct size for under 3% loss. I have never heard of sizing wire in relation to your combiner box... wire aint not cheap... there is about 300€ worth of copper there. thanks for your comment

That solar combiner panel does look like it's way to flimsy to me too and there's no way to restrain the cables either as far as I can see. It's a shame you can't just send it back to Outback!

i live in Spain and had it brought over from US. the problem is easily fixed though as its just the screws that they have used dont grab the metal in the holes they have drilled.

that is something im wondering myself. I have to consult my electrician about that. A guy that installs solar systems around here says that he doesn't ground the solar panels because that attracts lightning, but dont know if that is true. I will let you know when I find out. Thanks for your comment!

Never really heard of lightning arrestor before but have had a little experience grounding from main breaker. And always assumed a must with all electrical. Better safe than sorry.

they have a couple of videos on the midnite solar website that explain how these work and even show them testing one

I have recently installed a grounding rod near the combiner box specifically for the solar panels and lightning arrestor.

Hi Mike, Yeah, I was under the same impression but after watching a bunch of videos on the subject that all come to the same conclusion I put them in. I went by American code seeing as most of the videos I have watched are from there. The calculation is: 8.89amp (isc) x 1.25 (req by code) x 1.25 (over irradiance) = 13.89 round up to nearest breaker =15amp It seems that solar panels ARE capable of putting out more than their rated output because they are tested under standard conditions with artificial light, not the sun. Also you are protecting from several other panels short circuiting and sending the current into your good panels, although this last bit of info may be wrong. I cant remember where I read this. Here is a good video that explains it well: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kMp7nLJj37KqZZs.html thanks for your comment.

I watched the video but dont agree in terms on what they said about sizing the breaker. Yes that would be right on the battery sizing but not on the solar. If you have a look at your solar panels or any 300 w solar panel you will see two numbers for amps, One the Mppt normal rating of around 8.4 amps and the Open circuit max current of 8.6 amps or around that. Here is a pdf of a 300w panel www.tatapowersolar.com/images/module/downloads/Datasheet%20-%20TP300%20[June2015].pdf The iMMP etc mppt current is lower and rated at testing at 25c in perfect light. Now you will see Open ciruct max its 8.71amps. That is what is will output at almost no voltage in a short. If you look at the IV curve of any panel on the data sheet (on the right) you will see even at a temp of 0 the panel will never output anything more than the ISC or the short circuit rating of 8.71 amps. If you look at another datasheet of another panel. pdf.wholesalesolar.com/module%20pdf%20folder/ET-P672XXXWB.pdf You will see its max is 8.72 for the 300w in Isc. Even at -10c. Either way, it's not going to trip a 15 amp breaker. The (req by code) part isn't going to help trip a breaker, also the wire on the panel is rated normally around 35amps, if its 6mm its rated at around 44amps. If any calculation it would be 8.89amp (isc) x 0.04 for a 300w panel is around 9.2 amps. So if it was really cold -20-10, Perfect angle and the sun hit it in the middle of the day with no load the panel just might do 9.2a at almost no voltage but it could happen, given almost no voltage I wouldn't think it could trip a 9 amp breaker because it needs some voltage for a period of time to make it trip let alone the 15a one. However given it's not going to be in a perfect angle and it will be under load it will be much closer to its 8.89a rating. Plus all your wiring can easily do 9.2a and 20amps if not more. Plus if it was -10 the sun would slowly warm the panels up and as that happens the current goes down. Now your right Given all your panels are in parallel then I guess yes you are protecting agent a short from the high current of the rest which yes is a good idea.The issue with this is putting so many panels is in parallel creating a high current. For the losses of higher current, you wouldn't normally put no more than 3p with a agv of 2p. This keeps the voltage high and the current low for wire losses. Either way its all interesting and it will work.

thanks again for all the info. looks like I have some expensive switches for my solar panels. I dont understand this bit: "The issue with this is putting so many panels is in parallel creating a high current. For the losses of higher current, you wouldn't normally put no more than 3p with a agv of 2p. This keeps the voltage high and the current low for wire losses." Here are the specs for my panels: www.atersa.com/img/MU-6P%20(1)%206x12-I%20(A290,295,300P)%20TY%203_2.pdf

I think what Mike was pointing at was to put the panels in a series / parallel configuration to increase the voltage on the feed back to your battery shed. This will lower the current (for the same effective power) so there's less voltage drop in the cabling between the panels and the solar charge controller. Not that it should be much of a problem in your case with 75mm2 cables between the solar panels and battery shed! :-) Those cables must have been expensive!

I have a strange charge controller, its not mppt so wont accept anything over 30v. I did end up spending about 300€ in copper.