solar panel wires through the roof

[cdiggy]

The fuses inside for easy access would be my preference as well so all the wires would have to go through the roof from all the panels if you were fusing each panel, that is how the diagram shows how to install them are some people fusing all the panels with one fuse?
I see you can get breakers which would be nice but they seem very expensive, does anyone know if they special 12volt  breakers or can you use any 20 or 30 amp breaker, for example house breakers cause I got a couple of 230 volt 20 amps breakers wondering if they would work? they look similar???

I don't really know but I was 'told' that it matters and they need to be rated for 12v DC. Also here say from me though. I am not an electrician so I always defer to the pros when it comes to electrons!

 

[cdiggy]

The guys that I've read up on say to take mc4 extension cords and cut them in half to run the wires to their boxes. Seems pretty easy to make a bulkhead fitting to send the wires through the roof and then muck the inside to seal the wires to the inside of the fitting. That was my thinking on it anyway

 

[blars]

AC breakers should not be used on DC (and visa-versa), they may not operate reliably. (Some are rated at both.) The voltage rating of the breaker is the maximum it can handle, you need at least 10% over the rated VOC of your panels.

 

[anm]

I thought of doing this too. Maybe putting the combiner box on the inside so the fuses are easier to access. I like the idea of individually fused panels.  I still have time to decide. Solar is a way off for me still.

I have 2 solar panels and to connect them in parallel together I used these:

they are water proof and easily stash underneath the panels, and I have just 2 wires to run through the roof.

 

[SternWake]

My first roof pass through, I just drilled a hole, rounded the edges, passed the sheathed tinned 12awg marine wire through, and used 3m 5200 to seal it.

When i added a unisolar pvl 68 I removed this Ancor sheathed wire and used 8awg to the controller for the framed panel, and used the mc3 12awg to the controller for the Unisolar.  All these cables pass though cord grips.  

My fiberglass roof was about 1/2 inch thick in this area.  Dual layered fiberglass with some foam inbetween. I had to remove the lower layer of fiberglass and foam to bet them properly threaded.

I think I have 5 cord grips there now for all the cables I have running through the roof under the framed panel.

I also use 3m 5200 to adhere some of the loose wires to the painted roof.  but my framed panel is tiltable, so I padded the cabling to it does not rattle around and still allows tilting and access to the junction box on the panel itself.

Theres more than one way to skin a cat, as evidenced by the different approaches outlined in this thread.

 

[MikeRuth]

I second Blars comment on the breakers, Make sure the breaker is certified and or rated for DC use. There are a lot of auto resetting DC circuit breakers out there.
Manual reset DC breakers under 30 Amps become harder to find.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I guess the advantage of having a breaker is you could shut the panel off if you were disconnecting the battery for whatever reason, anyone use or heard of toggle switches on solar panels?

 

[MikeRuth]

I did install a 20 amp SPST toggle switch so I wouldn't have to unscrew the terminal if and when I need to disconnect the panels from the Controller.
If I take my panels back down anytime soon, not planning on it I'll put an inline ATC weatherproof fuse in. don't ask why I didn't in the first place.

Frankly I'm not terribly worried about a short from the panels to the controller. and since the panels can handle being dead shorted, well you get my point.
I did install a 150 Amp Circuit Breaker at the batteries as a master switch. The only other connection to the battery is the sense wire to the Controller and I did fuse that at 5 amps.
http://www.amazon.com/Volt-Audio-Stereo-Circuit-Breaker/dp/B00HX35FN4

 

[Vern M]

See my van roof installation at "Solar Stealth" elsewhere on the blog site.

Vern M