460 watt solar setup: wire sizes?
I want to change out my old 50 watt panel and 10 amp controller with at least one and hopefully two 230 watt 24 volt panels and whatever controller would be best. Right now the roof on my fifth wheel ...
Forum Discussion
12thgenusa wrote:
I quite often will operate a high demand appliance during the day; MW, coffee maker, hair dryer so voltage will drop well below 13v.
....
For the OP at 460 watts a voltage of 14.6 or less will hit the 30-amp max. (460*.96/30=14.56)
I am not sure about this math. 96% is Rogue efficiency at 30A (according to the manual), but then there is also 2% lost in cables, so it's more like 14.4V to hit the 30A limit of Rogue at ideal conditions (70F, optimal aiming of the panel and no dust on the glass). Such ideal conditions won't happen at sea level. It also won't happen for users with less than perfect aiming which is anybody but BFL ;)...
But I'm not after those particular numbers here. One thing I don't understand - what "volts" we are talking about. In the absence of charging current, the battery voltage is less than 13, yes. When it is charging, can it be less than 13V?
