Xantrax 80 And Moringstar 60 Mppt; series parallel wiring

solorone

I am replacing my system with 16 250w sharps VOC 38.3. I am thinking of wiring them in series and parallel by 4 or 6 panels, these are round figures, and would be 156 volts DC, or 228 v DC VOC. the run is 220 feet, wiring available is 2 circuits of 0000, one circuit of 00 and 6 of 10 AWG, which is about 10 +- CM each.
Now the question I have is, do all the series voltages have to be the same?? I would think so, but I have a pile of smaller Siemens panels that are in decent shape, and with space available, I would add 100 watts to the 4 panels on the Zone works tracker arrays. Should I just forget the Siemens?
My problem, is I have not bought a MPPT controller yet so have no guidelines to read/study. the Morningstar 60 A seems a bit marginal, but it will handle my 24 V setup ( did not go 48 V due to existing over head lighting). The Xantrax 80 A is twice as much as Morningstar, but rest of my gear is Xantrax, darn shame it is made in china, I have gotten 14 years out of my last Trace 4024.

I am building a timber latitude adjustable frame work for these new panels, using stainless steel angel and pipe that I have on hand

Also as an aside, I removed 28 year old ARCO panels from a Zome works tracker, and found no corrosion/electrolysis
Any input would be appreciated.
Cheers.

NorthGuy

Re: Xantrax 80 And Moringstar 60 Mppt; series parallel wiring

Look at the docs for XW-80. As I remember, 228V is too low for it. You need to go with longer strings.

It'll help if you post all the specs for both kinds of panel.

solorone

Re: Xantrax 80 And Moringstar 60 Mppt; series parallel wiring

I guess what I need to confirm is that I believe I can not mix different voltages IE, wire in the used Siemens, I do not have the the data for those tonight, but they are 12 V @ about 17.8 V wired in series for 24 V. As the setup exist it would be easy to series 4 panels and the other 12 separately, but these could be equalized.

Backsheet Color White
Cell Type Polycrystalline
Certifications UL 1703, ULC/ORD-C1703, IEC 61215, IEC 61730, CEC, FSEC
Connector Type MC4
Country of Origin USA
Depth 1.8
Frame Type Clear Aluminum
Length 39.1
Maximum Output Power 250.0 Watts
Maximum Power Current (Imp) 8.4 Amps
Maximum Power Voltage (Vmp) 29.8 Volts
Module Efficiency 15.3 Percent
Power Output Tolerance +5%/-0% Percent
Power at PTC 223.7 Watts
Power at STC 250.0 Watts
Warranty - Performance 25 year limited warranty on power output
Width 64.6
Sun Power 250.000 Watts
Product Weight 42

SkiDoo55

Re: Xantrax 80 And Moringstar 60 Mppt; series parallel wiring

Operating range 195 to 550

i would recommend that you use the string configuration tool on the Schneider site for the charge controller. Select your make model of panel, operating temperatures and it will give you the options for sting sizes. Saves a lot of guessing.

solorone

Re: Xantrax 80 And Moringstar 60 Mppt; series parallel wiring

Yes i read that but it also says a maximum of 3 KW for the Moringdtar, I supposed/assume, very dangerous to do, that means one continuous stream??? Still trying to figure out if I can combine different voltages?

solorone

Re: Xantrax 80 And Moringstar 60 Mppt; series parallel wiring

will look up the string tool, thanks.

SkiDoo55

Re: Xantrax 80 And Moringstar 60 Mppt; series parallel wiring

Having trouble finding the panel. Actually use a GT inverter string sizer as the voltage specs are about the same. Had trouble flinging a specific one for the XW-Mppt-80-600.

looks like it would work out to be 2 parallel strings of 8 panels in series

NorthGuy

Re: Xantrax 80 And Moringstar 60 Mppt; series parallel wiring

solorone wrote: »

I guess what I need to confirm is that I believe I can not mix different voltages IE, wire in the used Siemens, I do not have the the data for those tonight, but they are 12 V @ about 17.8 V wired in series for 24 V. As the setup exist it would be easy to series 4 panels and the other 12 separately, but these could be equalized.

For XW-80 the best bet is to do two strings of 8 each, for Vmp of 240. One string may be too much Voc (for some reason not listed, I assumed 37V) 37x16 = 592. But 240V Vmp is rather on a low side. Perhaps, Siemens can improve the setup a bit if added in series. Or, if you don't touch 4, but use 12 as one string, it'll be perfect. #10 wire will be Ok.

For Classic-250, you need strings of 6, if your climate is not that cold, so you can do your 12 as 2x6. 3x5 is also good, but one panel will be left out. If you do 3x5, you also may try to add Sienens in series if they match.

If you get data for Siemens, you can see if they have similar Imp to your new panels. This way you could add them in series with the existing ones.

Vic

Re: Xantrax 80 And Moringstar 60 Mppt; series parallel wiring

For the XW 80/600, Absolute max Voc is 600V. Spec here:
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wind-sun/XW-MPPT80-600-specs.pdf

FWIW, Vic