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kbhale · 04-22-10, 01:14 AM

open voltage. Most of the micro inverters say they need at least 14 volts to work.

I turned my old garage into a green house than BBQ kitchen. Now use solar water for hot water. So i'm going to use this hot water heater with a 12 volt 600 watt element as a energy dump.

My combiner finished.

This is Nuisance the cat. He is sitting on the 600 gallon hot water storage and in front of the storage batteries.

I've been buying the harbor freight panels as they go on sell. They are 45 watt per set at 12 volt. I'm wiring them so, each set has it's own 5 amp glass fuse.

It's 83 feet from panels to batteries. Have 6 sets now 270 watts. Plan to have 8 panels at 360 watts. 360w / 12v = 30 amps. Unlike AC. DC loses a lot of energy over distance. I required 0 AWG a wire as big around as your little finger to carry the power.

All the panels are facing south. Might have been better if they faced South South West.

I am trying to keep things to code. At least looking like code.

This is a great site to learn the basics.
http://www.freesunpower.com/index.php

04-22-10, 01:14 AM	#2
kbhale Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Evansville IN Posts: 88 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	open voltage. Most of the micro inverters say they need at least 14 volts to work. I turned my old garage into a green house than BBQ kitchen. Now use solar water for hot water. So i'm going to use this hot water heater with a 12 volt 600 watt element as a energy dump. My combiner finished. This is Nuisance the cat. He is sitting on the 600 gallon hot water storage and in front of the storage batteries. I've been buying the harbor freight panels as they go on sell. They are 45 watt per set at 12 volt. I'm wiring them so, each set has it's own 5 amp glass fuse. It's 83 feet from panels to batteries. Have 6 sets now 270 watts. Plan to have 8 panels at 360 watts. 360w / 12v = 30 amps. Unlike AC. DC loses a lot of energy over distance. I required 0 AWG a wire as big around as your little finger to carry the power. All the panels are facing south. Might have been better if they faced South South West. I am trying to keep things to code. At least looking like code. This is a great site to learn the basics. http://www.freesunpower.com/index.php Last edited by kbhale; 04-22-10 at 01:27 AM..