Solar

Got it. Dialed oas.affinitygroup.com and it instantly re-mapped to goodsamsclub.com. I figure that Goodsams is the guy, and oas.affinitygroup is their tech department.

The Affinity Group is the holding company that owns the various businesses affiliated with rvnet, woodalls and the like.

Almot wrote:
it reads "connecting to oas.affinitygroup.com". Huh?

After those MC4 Y-splitters he still needs a junction box and (at least) #6 cable from there. Because his current is high.

And a very short MC4 pigtail from Y to J-box. Preferably MC4 #8 - they probably don't make it bigger than #8.

What I like about series is that you wouldn't need any of this - no Y-splitters, no J-box, no nothing.

Server is unbelievably slow today, and before connecting it reads "connecting to oas.affinitygroup.com". Huh?

http://www.solar-electric.com/how-to-use-mc4-connectors-cables.html/

Colo Native wrote:

I have the chart and the voltage loss is .3% for 10 awg and 1.6 wasted watts. If I run parallel could I still use 10 down to the controller or should I go to 8 or 6. Series would just be 10 down to the controller. the panel amps are 9.05 amps (isc) and 8.5 amps(Imp)

Verify the "chart" against Voltage Drop Calculator. Enter one-way distance only. Use Imp for calculations for MPPT, not Isc.
When calculating series, you add volts, when parallel - amps.

You don't need to go for #8 if losses are 0.3%. But I DON'T think that you have 0.3% with #10 in parallel.

Eventually, I would listen to Jim - if you are going to camp where he is. High elevations and low temps is a whole different environment than at sea level.

Combiner box - to transition to #6 or #4 - and inconvenience of routing that thick cable to controller is the only drawback with parallel. It was a drawback big enough to me to choose series instead. But I am at sea level and very low energy use relatively to battery size, so my 30A controller with 2*245W rarely has a chance to run full power.

Hi,

I would wire to the combiner box on the roof allowing the ability to move from parallel to series and back. Heck, a person could even make it switchable. Then you may experiment to your hearts content until you find what works for your system.

I'm in series/parallel myself with four 64 watt panels.

Colo Native wrote:
The only thing I haven't finalized is series or parallel.

JiminDenver wrote:

Colo Native wrote:


I don't think we'll get snow but it is Colo. Jim one concern as you stated is heat and if I go with parallel I surely would need to run larger wire down from the j box correct? Series is easier I believe but what is more efficient? I have solar on the house and if one is shaded then the whole system has a lower output but one a RV its charging batteries

At altitude you will be seeing over 20a coming down in parallel. Somewhere on the site is a calculator that you enter the amps and length of run and it will tell you what you would need to avoid voltage drop. The thicker wire isn't going to be much thicker I would think.

Your batteries are a year old? How many cycles? You may be able to add to the bank with little adverse effect.

I have the chart and the voltage loss is .3% for 10 awg and 1.6 wasted watts. If I run parallel could I still use 10 down to the controller or should I go to 8 or 6. Series would just be 10 down to the controller. the panel amps are 9.05 amps (isc) and 8.5 amps(Imp) not many cycles on the batteries

2oldman wrote:

Colo Native wrote:
Series is easier I believe but what is more efficient?s

Efficiency is highly overrated. What sort of efficiency are you referring to?

Colo Native wrote:
Is there really any big difference in one way over the other?

Did the link I provided help?

Helped some but added to the confusion as well.

Colo Native wrote:


I don't think we'll get snow but it is Colo. Jim one concern as you stated is heat and if I go with parallel I surely would need to run larger wire down from the j box correct? Series is easier I believe but what is more efficient? I have solar on the house and if one is shaded then the whole system has a lower output but one a RV its charging batteries

At altitude you will be seeing over 20a coming down in parallel. Somewhere on the site is a calculator that you enter the amps and length of run and it will tell you what you would need to avoid voltage drop. The thicker wire isn't going to be much thicker I would think.

Your batteries are a year old? How many cycles? You may be able to add to the bank with little adverse effect.

Colo Native wrote:
Series is easier I believe but what is more efficient?s

Efficiency is highly overrated. What sort of efficiency are you referring to?

Colo Native wrote:
Is there really any big difference in one way over the other?

Did the link I provided help?