Help! My solar panels aren't working!
Do you think it could be the snow covering? :B A couple more weeks and we can head south. On a serious note - do you ground your solar panels? I noticed they have an attachment for a ground wire o...
Forum Discussion
bpounds wrote:beemerphile1 wrote:
On a serious note - do you ground your solar panels? I noticed they have an attachment for a ground wire on the frame but I didn't see the point.
Ground mounted, yes. RV, no.
To clarify, by ground mounted, I meant a sticks and bricks installation. I did not mean an RV with portable or even roof mounted panels. I can see that I should have been more clear on that.
I fail to see the point in grounding the panels in an RV, which is sitting on rubber tires and wood or plastic blocks, with panels mounted to a wooden roof covered with rubber or fiberglass. On the other hand, it can't hurt, and a piece of wire is cheap enough.
I noted when I was shopping that the sheathed cables specifically intended for a solar system (#10 red and black wires in an outdoor rated sheath) did not come with a ground lead. Grounding would require a 3rd loose cable, and none of the system installations I reviewed had that. The fact that the MC4 connectors did not provide a ground pin also informed my decision.
