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Old 04-30-2017, 07:33 PM   #1
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Solar dilemma

My Isata came with 200watts of flex go power. Nice install. Controller is mounted above the door.

Now, I am expanding the system to 1kw.
I will be using the magnum PT100 controller, which is huge.
It may fit where the go power controller is.

The good thing:
The PV wiring comes right there.
There is 2ga wiring right there that goes to the batteries.

The bad:
It would look very out of place, and I don't think my OCD could handle that.
I would also need to run a network cable down, to connect to the inverter.

Option 2.

Leave the go power system in place, and just run two systems.
The 200 watt gp and my 800w addition. Run the wiring down the fridge vent, and put the magnum controller in the same compartment as the inverter.
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Old 05-01-2017, 12:04 PM   #2
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Solar dilemma

I spoke to magnum this morning.
Make two series strings of 5 panels and parallel them to the controller.
I can re use the factory solar wiring.

Now I just have to figure out how to smash that controller into the over head compartment.
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Old 07-14-2017, 08:24 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenny kustom View Post
I spoke to magnum this morning.
Make two series strings of 5 panels and parallel them to the controller.
I can re use the factory solar wiring.

Now I just have to figure out how to smash that controller into the over head compartment.
I don't think the controller should go into too small of a compartment if the controller has heat dissipation fins.
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Old 07-14-2017, 08:34 AM   #4
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Controller heat is real

The controllers do put off heat and need venting. As said before I would run the panels in series unless you go over the max voltage of the controller. If this is the case put each half of the panels into a series configuration and then parallel the two sets of panels. The higher voltage will make better use of the smaller wire coming from the roof. BUT... Be careful: If you get it up to 100 Volts or so from the series connection touching the panel wires could be lethal. You will have to do solar maintenance at night.

I would not run two separate solar systems. The controllers assume they are the only source of charge power and if uncoordinated they will see-saw back and forth with one shutting the other down. There is also no good way to tell if they are full (Amp hour charge indicator) with two systems.

Sounds like a nice problem to have. I use a Renogy controller (MPPT) that I love. A great product. They have a remote readout panel so you can put the controller out of sight.
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Old 07-14-2017, 09:08 AM   #5
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I guess I didn’t update this!

Install went smooth.
Re wired the panels to have them all in series. 100vdc.
Ran the roof solar wires into a junction box on the roof, and ran 2ga down the fridge and into my inverter compartment.
Put the controller there.
The controller/inverter/ags/bmk is all controlled by one remote. They all talk to each other.

The inverter is set to only charge when batteries drop below 12.4. The solar is responsible for the float charging. Very slick.

Click image for larger version

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System is performing very well, in my driveway... I’ve been stuck in school for the last 3 weeks, and only a week to go. Then off to Florida.
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Old 07-14-2017, 09:36 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenny kustom View Post
I guess I didn’t update this!

Install went smooth.
Re wired the panels to have them all in series. 100vdc.
Ran the roof solar wires into a junction box on the roof, and ran 2ga down the fridge and into my inverter compartment.
Put the controller there.
The controller/inverter/ags/bmk is all controlled by one remote. They all talk to each other.

The inverter is set to only charge when batteries drop below 12.4. The solar is responsible for the float charging. Very slick.

Attachment 144716Attachment 144717Attachment 144718

System is performing very well, in my driveway... I’ve been stuck in school for the last 3 weeks, and only a week to go. Then off to Florida.


Nice work and nice photos. It is great to have all the pieces talking to each other. Nothing worse than having solar panels hitting the house batteries to run an inverter that powers the converter that tries to charge the same batteries the solar panels are charging
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