What type of wiring and where to buy?

[yamsack]

Hi again everyone,<br>What kind of material should I get for the wiring of my solar system.&nbsp; I've seen copper, aluminum, etc.&nbsp; Secondly, where can I get this wiring?&nbsp; I saw a 12 gauge speaker wire sold at Radio Shack, but I'm not sure if that's the right wire for this application.&nbsp; Thanks everyone.<br><br>

 

[ped]

<P>12 AWG is too small. DC has quite a bit of resistance so you need the big wire to prevent voltage drop. I'd go with 4 or 6 gauge copper both to the charge controller and from the charge controller to the battery. Keep the charge controller wire to the batteries especially as short as you can and as big as you can so that you're actually getting a true 14.4v min at the batteries. Or the whole thing will be a waste and the batteries will never fully charge. </P><br>Just in general the bigger the better for solar wiring.<br><br><A href="http://www.solar-electric.com/hardware---wire.html" target=_blank>http://www.solar-electric.com/hardware---wire.html</A><br>

 

[blars]

Avoid aluminum wire, you need copper.<br><br>Size depends on the current, how much power you are willing to loose in the wire, and the length of the wire.&nbsp; For on outside, you need UV and water resistant cable, frequently sold as "marine" cable.&nbsp; I used 10/2 marine wire from my panels to the combiner box, 6/2 for the combiner box to the controller, and the controller to battery hasn't been wired yet.&nbsp; Welding cable is much more flexable than normal cable, so is better for places that move like to a sliding battery tray.<br><br>I purchased the marine cable on ebay, the 6/2 at a scrapyard, and will probably get welding cable online for the battery connection.&nbsp; Home Depot caries the normal stuff.<br><br><br><br><br>

 

[Les H]

Tractor supply stores sell welding cable by the foot, in case you are like me and prefer to go to a real store as opposed to online shopping. While you're there, look at the 15 gal spray tanks with built in 12v pump ( ment to go on the back of an atv) , perfect for a pressurized water tank for sink and shower for about $120.

 

[yamsack]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.&nbsp; I think I'm gonna check out what they have at Lowes, Home Depot.<br><br>So is the term "electrical wiring" or "electrical cable", in case I need to ask someone there.<br><br>As for fuse holders, 20 amp fuses, butt connectors, wire looms, I'm guessing that any auto parts store should have this stuff?&nbsp; Thanks all.<br><br>

 

[yamsack]

Hi all,<br>I'm starting to shop around for wiring for my components.&nbsp; Specifically, the 12 gauge wire running from the controller to the batteries needs some sort of terminal to connect to the battery.&nbsp; I can't seem to find a ring terminal large enough to both accommodate the 12 gauge wire as well as the pos/neg posts on the battery.&nbsp; Can anyone recommend how to make this connection?&nbsp; Thanks all.<br><br>

 

[Guest]

As Ped stated above 12 gauge sounds too small. To answer your question about the terminals you would use a crimp type connector on 12 gauge but again I think its too small. The terminals and pliers are available at most auto parts stores.&nbsp; I have not installed solar panels and don't know right off how many amps they can put out but I know that if you plug into shore power with heavily discharged batteries you may burn the ends off the 12 gauge crimp connectors. In general you should look at the system as a tree. The battery is the main trunk/ root or power base of the system and the branches go out from there. The cables going from the battery to the controller or terminal panel should be the largest. The wire going from your terminal board or fuses to say something like an led light circuit would be the smallest depends on amp draw.<br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Go over some of the links in here. On an electric golf cart or similar vehicle the smallest wire I have ever seen connected to a battery bank was from the battery charger straight to the batteries and it was 10 Gauge. The only thing that wire was doing was charging the batteries and they would sometimes get hot and burn at the ring eye (yellow) crimp connection. I don't know your system but imagine turning on several of your devices at one time and that load will be applied to the cables going to your battery. Your battery doesn't know or care what its trying to power so it will pump its heart out when connected to a load. If the branches going out to those loads were not fused and they are too small they will melt possibly resulting in a fire. Don't forget the properly sized&nbsp; fuses near the battery.<br><br>http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_2/1.html<br><br>http://www.elecdirect.com/catalog/4c139b75-356d-48a1-a34c-ec4af3c2e40c.aspx<br><br>http://www.windsun.com/Hardware/Wire_Table.htm<br><br><br><br>

 

[SoulRaven]

<br>

Avoid aluminum wire, you need copper.<br><br>Size depends on the current, how much power you are willing to loose in the wire, and the length of the wire.&nbsp; For on outside, you need UV and water resistant cable, frequently sold as "marine" cable.<br><br>I purchased the marine cable on ebay.

<br><br>As Blars touched on the reason for the larger cabling between devices is for the distance that the current has to travel... Current is like water, the bigger the stream the more flow can take place, so the bigger the wire the more current can flow while less is lost due to resistance and other factors... A person say with a 180 watt solar system can get away with 14-12 AWG with out danger, but your current flow will be cut down considerably, thus defeating the purpose of a MPPT controller...<br><br>Blars also touched on "marine grade copper wire", this is special wiring that keeps the sun, rain and other harmful elements from degrading/destroying your outside wires...<br><br>Never skip any steps and never let cost determine your purchase as besides the very vehicle the solar panels are on, the panels and equip are a huge investment that deserves the best in wiring and mounting... <br><br><br>

 

[THECHEMICALS]

Solar Panels ive bought come with 12-14 guage wire already installed on them. I also bought a charger with a similar gauge wire. I may be reading the posts here wrong but are you saying replace those wires with 4 or 6 guage wires?<br>

 

[akrvbob]

I ran 10 gauge from the panels to the controller, 8 gauge from the conroller to the battery. The reason is that the MPPT controller increased the amps going from it to the batteries. Also, I wanted to use a big enough wire to add more panels in the future. I'm very glad I did!<br><br>You want stranded wire for all cabling in a vehicle. Solid wire (household) is too brittle to stand up to the constant vibration in a vehicle. From the panels to the controller, you want UV resistent wire. The sun will quickly destroy normal wire so you MUST use UV resistant wiring. <br><br>This is a great outfit that I've ordered from before:<br><br>http://www.solar-electric.com/hardware---wire.html<br><br>I highly recommend calling them and ordering wire from them. Bob<br>