Another Solar Setup
Many thanks to all you folks who helped me work out the details of my solar installation. And for the many examples of your craftsmanship. This link to some pictures may work: Picassa Album "Solar...
Forum Discussion
smkettner: Many thanks for posting the pictures directly. I used to get Picassa to give me a link to individual pictures, but they've changed something.
westend: well, the box is pretty ugly sitting up on the front there. But finding those wire pass-thru's at Home Depot definitely made my day.
12genusa: My comments about this being only a charge not a load circuit were to justify my choice of 6ga cable to the batteries. Think most people use the same cable for charge and loads, and many have big battery banks, big inverters, longer runs and need huge cables to reduce voltage drop.
I'm under 2% voltage drop with the max Rogue charge current, but maybe 3.5% with the max 60A charge of the PD8260, which I don't care so much about as we'll only use it under shore power if it's too shady or cloudy for the solar panels.
pianotuna: Costs can vary a lot depending upon your shipping and taxes. Once I had the panels and MPPT controller priced out at under $1000, I figured it was time to start. But the rest of the stuff quickly added up.
- Tracked down a local source of Solar Panels and picked them up myself 2Solar.ca, along with all the 10ga MC4 cables and MC4 Y connectors for Can$471.21 total (including 13% HST)
- The Rogue was Can$480 (incl. ship & HST)
- Baby Breaker box and 2 breakers from NAWS: ~Can$95 (incl. ship & HST)
- DelCity battery cables: ~Can$157 (incl. ship & HST), but there's about 30' of 6ga cable, lots of heat shrink, lugs, anti-ox and the hammer crimp tool left over for other projects.
- Westmarine 3m5200, large tube, used it all: Can$22 (incl HST)
- WestMarine battery bolt-on fuse holder and 2 (1 spare) 60A fuses: ~Can$75 (incl HST), ridiculously expensive (fuses alone are ~Can$20 ea) but very nice when the batteries are exposed on the trailer tongue.
- Home Depot, Lowe's, Al angle, SS bolts and screws, electrical connectors, water-tite junction box: ~Can$220 (incl HST), this was the biggest cost surprise. A small amount of it is left over for future projects.
So about Can$1500 total. I'm sure it can be done cheaper in the USA.
westend: well, the box is pretty ugly sitting up on the front there. But finding those wire pass-thru's at Home Depot definitely made my day.
12genusa: My comments about this being only a charge not a load circuit were to justify my choice of 6ga cable to the batteries. Think most people use the same cable for charge and loads, and many have big battery banks, big inverters, longer runs and need huge cables to reduce voltage drop.
I'm under 2% voltage drop with the max Rogue charge current, but maybe 3.5% with the max 60A charge of the PD8260, which I don't care so much about as we'll only use it under shore power if it's too shady or cloudy for the solar panels.
pianotuna: Costs can vary a lot depending upon your shipping and taxes. Once I had the panels and MPPT controller priced out at under $1000, I figured it was time to start. But the rest of the stuff quickly added up.
- Tracked down a local source of Solar Panels and picked them up myself 2Solar.ca, along with all the 10ga MC4 cables and MC4 Y connectors for Can$471.21 total (including 13% HST)
- The Rogue was Can$480 (incl. ship & HST)
- Baby Breaker box and 2 breakers from NAWS: ~Can$95 (incl. ship & HST)
- DelCity battery cables: ~Can$157 (incl. ship & HST), but there's about 30' of 6ga cable, lots of heat shrink, lugs, anti-ox and the hammer crimp tool left over for other projects.
- Westmarine 3m5200, large tube, used it all: Can$22 (incl HST)
- WestMarine battery bolt-on fuse holder and 2 (1 spare) 60A fuses: ~Can$75 (incl HST), ridiculously expensive (fuses alone are ~Can$20 ea) but very nice when the batteries are exposed on the trailer tongue.
- Home Depot, Lowe's, Al angle, SS bolts and screws, electrical connectors, water-tite junction box: ~Can$220 (incl HST), this was the biggest cost surprise. A small amount of it is left over for future projects.
So about Can$1500 total. I'm sure it can be done cheaper in the USA.
