Thanks to All

Chris11

Just a note to thank everyone for their help in " larnin' " me solar stuff.  Even the other newbies like me who asked questions that I wanted to ask, and the smart guys answered.

Attached are some pics ( I hope ) showing my 1 KW array and electronics.  Today for the first time I was able to charge my Plug-in Prius ( at least partially ) since I didn't have the time to wait for the completion of the charge.

The pic of the Outback readout shows lower input than it should be.  We're smack dab in the middle of Montana wildfire smoke, Canadian metric wildfire smoke, Oregon wildfire smoke, and central WA wildfire smoke.  Big time bad but thankfully I was able to use beer to wash out my lungs.

Chris

BB.

Very happy that all is working out well for you. A couple suggestions:

Keep brush away from your solar stuff... I.e., forest fire (or fire from hot car catalytic converter) setting your stuff on fire, or if there is a fault and your stuff catches on fire.

At some point, I would suggest something fire resistance below your wiring--Like concrete backer board... Even though insulation is rated to be "flame retardent"--Any plastic (including UL approved) will catch fire and feed a flame if it gets hot enough.

Since solar runs 24x7 if you are there or not--I am always a bit skittish about designing to reduce risk of fire.

-Bill

Chris11

Thanks for the suggestions.  I actually had planned to cut the brush and the concrete board is a great idea, thanks.
I'm also skittish about fire, and so far I haven't left the system on while I'm not there.  The other 3 small systems I did the same way, turned off if I'm not there and only turned on if I could watch each one individually until I was relatively happy with how they were working.

I did have the 50 amp circuit breaker click off yesterday.  That would be the one between the CC and bat bank.  The CC reading at the time was 27 volts @ 30.2 amps....and it was right at noon so the most productive time.  (The horrid smoke had cleared off overnight.)  My assumption is that the CB, rated at 12 to 24 volts was overwhelmed by the slightly too high voltage.  I'm not going to turn it on from just before noon till after noon until I get a 36 to 48 volt CB for that spot.  

Other than that the system seems to be doing it's job.  It will charge my car for the short times (twice so far) I've tried. And I'm impressed with the cheapy Chinese inverter....it's doing it's job without a problem.  It's the same model I use for my deep well 110 volt pump which has worked flawlessly for that.

Thanks again,  Chris 

BB.

No, the high voltage did not trip the breaker.

Thermal breakers in a hot box or hot terminals (loose connection, bad crimp, too small of wire, etc.) can cause the breaker to over heat. Or just a "cheap" breaker.

So you habe a switch or breaker to the solar array? Turn of the, then open or close the dc battery breaker. (Always connect battery back first, to leery the controller boot first)

-Bill

Chris11

You certainly hit the target with suggesting I have a "cheap"  breaker, I do....lol.   My thoughts at the time were the CC was the brain so I bought the best.  All else I thought just cheap stuff will do.  Apparently not so.  

Yesterday It clicked off a few times while I was standing there watching it.  It didn't matter if the car was plugged in with the inverter pulling 1400 watts or just charging the batteries.  So after reading what you said I realized my $7.00 breaker wasn't up to snuff.  I'll get a better one.

As a side note, it's real interesting to watch the panels change the charge rate and comparing those changes with the sky.  Even a few high cirrus clouds will affect the charge rate.  

At one time, pic attached, the panels were putting out 840 watts.  So the 77% derate amount isn't etched in stone....that must be a just a guide figure.

Oh, and I weed whacked the brush. 

Thanks, Chris

BB.

Solar power with large battery banks means you can have high average current flow for long periods of time (i.e., charging the batteries for 4+ hours at a time) and no surge current. Most grid powered items have a high, but short, starting current and fairly low running current.

-Bill