Solar Wire Size..??? Fuses on panels...??

Muddydogs wrote:
...As for the fuse I would put a 40 amp inline fuse at the controller if for the only reason to have a way to disconnect the solar panels from the controller and batteries. Its nice to be able to disconnect the solar input if you need to take the batteries off the trailer for any reason like I had to do when I took my trailer into the shop for front wall work and I knew they would have to remove the batteries to do there work. With my controller the battery's need to be hooked up before the solar panels or the controller may be damage, well you know the guys at the shop don't know this and if they did they probably wouldn't do it right anyway. Its sure easy to pull a fuse right at the controller then getting on the roof to disconnect panels or pulling the wires from the controller plus a fuse is always a good idea.

I agree with others about not needing to use as large of gauge wire as possible between panels and controller. However, when you are installing your own system it is nice to design it with expansion in mind. I used 4 gauge wire in and out of the controller which is the max size the controller terminals could accommodate. If I expand, no rewiring will be required. Plus piece of mind knowing I have minimal voltage loss due to wiring.

I definitely agree with Muddydogs' advice quoted above regarding fuse/circuit breaker between panels and controller. I use circuit breaker which is even more convenient than pulling a fuse.