Upgrade to 6 Panels

tcvb

The first of the year I am looking at upgrading my system,question I have is whats the best way to incorporate my current panels to an additional 3.I have 3 130 watt panels on a rack going into a 3 breaker combiner feeding my charger,i am going to build the new array next to existing one.Would it be best to change out current combiner to larger one and run new wires from new array into it?

Thank's

westbranch

Re: Upgrade to 6 Panels

compare the price of a 3 slot combiner plus a 2 (or more) combiner vs the cost of a 6 slot combiner... you will need the 2 slot to combine the output from the 2 x 3 slot combiners... that will tell you which is most economic.

Will that MS 30 CC handle ~ 40Amps? I don't think so...

tcvb

Re: Upgrade to 6 Panels

So it would be best to go with a six slot,i will upgrading my CC,looking at the Midnight Solar Clasic's 150,and adding another set of batteries.So if I build my new array next to my existing array I would be able to run the wire to the new combiner box,i would also have to replace the wire going to charger.It is #10 stranded copper,would probably need #6.About 50ft run.

tons001

Re: Upgrade to 6 Panels

tcvb wrote: »

So it would be best to go with a six slot,i will upgrading my CC,looking at the Midnight Solar Clasic's 150,and adding another set of batteries.So if I build my new array next to my existing array I would be able to run the wire to the new combiner box,i would also have to replace the wire going to charger.It is #10 stranded copper,would probably need #6.About 50ft run.

If you are upgrading to a Classic 150, you should be good with the 3 slot combiner box you have. Just run 3 strings of 2 or depending on your battery voltage, you could do 2 strings of 3.

Happy Holidays .... Marc

tcvb

Re: Upgrade to 6 Panels

Battery v is 12,you say 2 string of 3.parraling them?Would you use this type connector to parralele 2 panels then run into one brkr?Multibranch MC4 Parallel Solar Panel Connectors

tons001

Re: Upgrade to 6 Panels

You can use this link from Midnite Solar to put in the specifics about your panels and see what string sizes would work.

http://www.midnitesolar.com/sizingTool/displaySizing.php

Attached below is a 3 string combiner box from my setup. Ignore the 3rd breaker because it does nothing. I have four panels in series in each string. Those two strings come into the combiner box through the MC4 connectors and into their own appropriate size breaker. From there they are combined (parallel) and go up to my Classic charge controller 100 feet away via 4awg cable.