CA Traveler wrote:
There is no reason for a fuse or CB for 1 or 2 parallel panels as a short will not blow the fuse or damage the panels. A switch can be helpful however.
3 or more parallel panels should be individually fused to protect a shorted panel.
Each of my panels are individually fused with a 15amp inline MC4 fuse.
I also installed a breaker from the panels to the solar charge controller right next to the solar charge controller, PRIMARILY just to act as an on/off switch so that I can "turn off" the panels anytime I need/want to. That is also primarily why I put a fuse between the solar charge controller and the batteries. I wanted to have a way of disconnecting it from the system if I ever needed to (ie. doing any electrical work and want there to be no power source on the line while doing so).
-Chris
