Help: Wiring/Cabling Panels--- Make sense?

System
System Posts: 2,511 admin
I'm exploring the proper wiring for a PV array I'm designing. I plan on using 56 Mitsubishi 185W panels arranged in 4 strings of 14 panels. The strings will be daisy chained from an Outback fuse box near the arrays via 10 AWG USE-2 cables with MC4 connectors at each panel male then female with cables going from panel 1 to panel 2 to panel 3 ..... to panel 14 and then back to the Outback box with positive and negative legs ( grounded at the Sunny Boy 6000US inverter 150' away via a green TWHN-2 8 AWG wire) Each string will go to an Outback fuse box with 4 fuses for the 4 strings with fuses on the positive - non-grounded side. From there the 4 strings will run with TWHN-2 8 AWG wire 18" underground in 1 1/2" rigid PVC schedule 40 conduit with positive = black = #1 string, red = #2 string, orange = #3 string, blue = #4 string ( so I can identify each DC hot lead) and negative leg ( grounded at inverter) = white for 150 feet to the 2 - Sunny Boy 6000US 240V Inverters. Each Sunny Boy 6000US will handle 2 strings of 14 185W panels and provide both the DC side AND AC side disconnects. The 2 Sunny Boy outputs will be wired via 8 AWG TWHN-2 ( normal green=ground, white = neutral, black = 120VAC hot#1 and red = 120VCA hot#2 to 2 30A breakers in my existing 200A panel. The panels will all be connected serially via 10AWG bare wire with stainless clamps to frames and returned back to the Outback and directly to the ground 8 AWG green wire plus ground the Outback metal box. Make sense? I hope? Any comments appreciated!!!!

Can anyone see any problems here or any better methods or cheaper code compliant methods?

Comments

  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Help: Wiring/Cabling Panels--- Make sense?

    1) are you grounding the negative PV wire ? [ green 8 ga, 150' ]
    2) you called out 4 colors for the + leads, and all 4 of the neg are going to be white ?

    3) my area, any exposed ground wire must be inside an armored cable/sheath
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Help: Wiring/Cabling Panels--- Make sense?

    i'm having some trouble drawing out the layout from your description so i couldn't double check it, but i assume you did voltage drop calculations. did you?