solar fuses
What fuses are you guys using to connect you solar panels to controller and controller to battery's?
Forum Discussion
Muddydogs wrote:
Ken
What happens as both the controller and battery are both energy sources?
The controller is an energy source for the battery and needs a fuse sized according to its output current and cable size.
The battery acts as an energy source for the DC panel and other DC loads so it needs a fuse at its output to these loads and the fuse is sized according to the cable size.
The converter acts as a source to the DC panel, loads, and battery so it needs a fuse sized according to its output current and cable size.
Each of these fuses protect excessive energy from being passed through a cable that isn't designed to handle the heat that is generated from a shorted fault condition.
EDIT: Oh and the reason the solar panels under some conditions do not need to be fused is because they act as a constant current source which means a finite amount of current is generated.
So, if the cable can handle this finite, short circuit current indefinitely without overheating, a fuse sized for this cable would never open anyway.
