Connecting 12v Prosine 2.0 to breaker box / sub panel

Re: Connecting 12v Prosine 2.0 to breaker box / sub panel

Lets let "Hairfarm" respond, I suspect he is calling 2+ground 14/3, not uncommon when starting out. For solar, or indeed for any new construction, it's always nice to go at least 1 wire size above what's required.

Oops. I happened to be referring (for some reason) to the one section of 14/3 wire that was necessarily run between 2 three-way (not single pole) switches. The rest of the cabin is, in fact, run with 14/2. My bad.

Questions:

1) On page 3-5 of my inverter manual it states " AC Output: The circuit breaker or fuse must be rated at no more than 30A and must be approved for use on 120Vac branch circuits. The wire used between the PROsine and the AC output breaker must be sized to match the AC input circuit breaker’s rating. The wire from the AC output breaker to your loads must be matched to the rating of the AC output breakers. This doesn't imply that I need / must install a 30A breaker in my AC load center, right? I was only planning to feed the inverter AC output into several 15amp breakers instead for my circuits. (documentation: http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Inv...1_rev-C%29.pdf) Can some please take a peak at my documentation to see if I'm interpreting this correctly?

2) One other major screw-up on my part. The entire cabin has been wired with 14awg wire. I just checked my Xantrex Prosine 2.0 inverter and it has 12awg wire coming out which will eventually be tied into the Square D AC load center. Does this mean that I short changed myself?! In other words, since I'm using 14AWG wire that limits my AC breaker fuse to 15A, correct? If I had matched the Prosine's 12awg I could used 20A breakers right? AARRGG! What does this mean exactly? That I can't take advantage of a slightly higher breaker amperage rating?

3) Should I install an AFCI in my AC load center? I will be installing GFCI's in my outdoor outlets and kitchen / bathroom areas. Just wondering if anyone had thoughts on an AFCI for offgrid applications. Actually, my cabin in only 480Sqft, so I don't really have a bedroom or living area to single out which is what an AFCI is recommended for.

4) In some AC panels that I've "googled" I see that many people have connected their green ground wires directly onto the neutral bus along with the white neutral wiring, side by side. Even my own rental home is wired this way, btw.

Like this diagram:
Attachment not found.
And this one:
Attachment not found.

The neutral bus also has ground wires attached too in addition to neutrals. My plan was to tie the neutral and ground bus together but not share a single bus. But I guess it's all the same thing really, right?

Thanks for all the input everyone!

Re: Connecting 12v Prosine 2.0 to breaker box / sub panel

Neutral Grounding:

The neutral conductor of the PROsine’s AC output circuit is automatically
connected to the safety ground during inverter operation. When AC utility power
is present and the PROsine is in Charger mode, this connection is not present, so
that the utility neutral is only connected to ground at your source panel. This
conforms to National Electrical Code requirements that separately derived AC
sources (such as inverters and generators) have their neutral conductors tied to
ground in the same way that the neutral conductor from the utility is tied to ground
at the AC source panel.

That is correct. I did see that in my manual too. Thanks.

My generator won't be grounded. It will only be rolled out of the shed and used when needed and won't be "living" near any ground source to use effectively. Xantrex tech says ungrounded generators are ok to use, even MSW ones. The default, factory position of the inverter bonding screw is "Auto bonding to ground in invert mode". However, my "shore-power" (actually my generator) will not be grounded. Therefore, I'll have to manually relocate the inverter "bonding" screw in the other hole, the permanently "unbonded in all modes" position. But then I will definitely have to bond the neutral to ground in my AC load panel. That way, I can hook up my non-grounded generator and be set up correctly. The "Auto bonding to ground in invert mode" setting assumes that the shore power (usually for prosine inverter applications like RV's, Boats, etc) will always be grounded. But in my situation my "shore-power" won't be grounded, so I use the "unbonded in all modes" setting and bond at the panel to "force the issue". This is how it was explained to me by Xantrex.

I'll try to clarify the GFCI issue that applies to my specific inverter as it was explained to me.

The GFCI on my Prosine is on a completely different "circuit" and has nothing to do with the main AC out wiring. I think there might've been some confusion about this in regards to some posts about my Prosine. My Xantrex Prosine 2.0 product was offered originally in two flavors, one model had a GFCI outlet wired into the back of it. But it also had another set of outgoing AC wires for a load center / breaker box, as well as a set on incoming wires for a generator or charger.
The second "flavor" that was offered did not have a GFCI on the back, only an AC out/in wiring scheme like the former. It has a simple metal plate covering the AC side instead of a GFCI outlet like my model. I didn't even care about the GFCI when I bought it on Craigs list. It was just a great deal.

The GFCI can be considered a second "circuit within" the inverter. The GFCI is a two outlet receptacle and has nothing to do with the other AC out wiring. Please see pic:
Attachment not found.

I'll leave the GFCI in place because it will be useful to have and wire the second set of AC out wiring to my load center. This second AC set of wires will have nothing to do with the GFCI already installed in my inverter. They perform two separate, isolated functions. I'll have no problem wiring a GFCI in my kitchen, bath, and outdoor areas. I've decided not to use an AFCI since my cabin is one big room anyway. That and the fact that an AFCI uses monitoring current, a fact brought to my attention by Northguy which I later researched. My Prosine will be fed into a QO load center by way of 6 circuits protected with 15amp breakers, etc. If I occasionally need a 30 amp power supply, I guess I'll have to turn on my 5k generator for that.

Also, I bought LED fixtures for the interior / exterior of the cabin. 15 LED lights in all. All are rated for 9 watts per bulb. Even if all of the LED bulbs are on at once it will only use 135 watts. I just can't get over how cool that is! I explained this to my neighbor who still uses a 150 watt incandescent bulb, (more than the total wattage of all my 15 LEDS powered up at once) in his workshop and he made beeline to Home depot to see for himself:D

Thanks,