Please help me with solar setup
I have been reading a lot about solar on here and finally decided to take the plunge or come to the dark side as some would say. Sunny side makes more sense, but whatever. :) We do not use a lot of...
Forum Discussion
Well, "aging" Xantrex brand seems to remain popular. Some of the best inverters from them. My camp neighbor installed controller C35 with 500-something Watt array and 24V bank, and when I asked: Why not Morningstar - he said that darn thing failed on him. Anything can fail of course.
There are many different scenarios for solar use. "Doing things that people said you couldn't" - all the time I'm doing things that I was told I couldn't :)... People saying that I can't live on less than 40 AH a day (have been living on 25-30 AH), or that I can't go offgrid without a generator, or that I can't run 490W/12V system with 30A MPPT, or something else. If you know your needs, your environment, and do your math, results are predictable.
Smyke - I would suggest a controller bigger than 20A if you install 2*140W or 2*150W.
Here is why:
SC current 8.4A*2 + 20% safety margin = 20.16A. 20A controller is barely enough. If you go where Jim goes, the current will spike. Or you'll get the cloud edge effect even if you're at sea level, and up in smoke it goes. Get some 25-30A controller. As the model goes, I like this Morningstar Sunsaver 20 even less than P30L. No adjustable parameters, and temp sensor is on-board only.
Maybe get gauge 8 MC4 cable rather than gauge 10 - can't say for sure without running the numbers, this depends on the wire length from panel to controller but you won't lose anything if running gauge 8.
To save yourself few pennies, get 2*140W Poly in the link above rather than 2*150W Mono. Those 140W come with two Y-splitters included, cost at least $10 each.
There are many different scenarios for solar use. "Doing things that people said you couldn't" - all the time I'm doing things that I was told I couldn't :)... People saying that I can't live on less than 40 AH a day (have been living on 25-30 AH), or that I can't go offgrid without a generator, or that I can't run 490W/12V system with 30A MPPT, or something else. If you know your needs, your environment, and do your math, results are predictable.
Smyke - I would suggest a controller bigger than 20A if you install 2*140W or 2*150W.
Here is why:
SC current 8.4A*2 + 20% safety margin = 20.16A. 20A controller is barely enough. If you go where Jim goes, the current will spike. Or you'll get the cloud edge effect even if you're at sea level, and up in smoke it goes. Get some 25-30A controller. As the model goes, I like this Morningstar Sunsaver 20 even less than P30L. No adjustable parameters, and temp sensor is on-board only.
Maybe get gauge 8 MC4 cable rather than gauge 10 - can't say for sure without running the numbers, this depends on the wire length from panel to controller but you won't lose anything if running gauge 8.
To save yourself few pennies, get 2*140W Poly in the link above rather than 2*150W Mono. Those 140W come with two Y-splitters included, cost at least $10 each.
