Post by j23 on Oct 15, 2016 5:00:40 GMT -8
Hi!
I have an off grid cabin, situated in the middle of the woods. The cabin doesn't receive a whole lot of sun, so any solar panels put on the roof would probably not live up to their potential. Worse yet, the cabin's roof faces east and west. Go figure!
The cabin is wired for AC. Currently, I run (2) 6 volt 208AH batteries through a small 750 watt inverter, for a total of 12 volts. I charge the batteries with a gas generator and a little 20A battery charger. I don't use much power inside.. LED lighting, a small 12 volt water pump, TV/DVD, various chargers, and a tiny coffee maker. Obviously, I have to watch what circuits I run at once, as 750 watts only goes so far, specifically with the coffee maker. I would like to upgrade to perhaps a 3k [Pure Sine] Inverter, which would be probably DOUBLE what I need with everything on at once, giving me some breathing room so to speak, and with that, perhaps triple my battery bank.
The good news is that approximately 300 feet away is a clearing that receives ample sun, from the south, all day long. I would have no problem building an appropriate solar panel rack there.
I did a Google search, from which the results almost unanimously pointed towards running the ~300 foot span using AC, as opposed to DC, leaving the charge controller(s,) batteries, and inverter with the panels. Easy enough. So here is my quandary...
I calculated the distance using a voltage drop calculator, which will necessitate quite a large cable, at least 1/0. I was thinking of using a mobile home service cable bundle.
So, long story short, my problem is, if I were to purchase a 3k Pure Sine inverter, and place it with the panels, charge controller, and (larger) battery bank in the sunny clearing, how would I adapt the large (1/0) cables to the small, I am assuming 10awg, terminal block the inverter, to run the power to the cabin? Perhaps an adjacent power block? Could you provide me some direction please?
Thank you!
I have an off grid cabin, situated in the middle of the woods. The cabin doesn't receive a whole lot of sun, so any solar panels put on the roof would probably not live up to their potential. Worse yet, the cabin's roof faces east and west. Go figure!
The cabin is wired for AC. Currently, I run (2) 6 volt 208AH batteries through a small 750 watt inverter, for a total of 12 volts. I charge the batteries with a gas generator and a little 20A battery charger. I don't use much power inside.. LED lighting, a small 12 volt water pump, TV/DVD, various chargers, and a tiny coffee maker. Obviously, I have to watch what circuits I run at once, as 750 watts only goes so far, specifically with the coffee maker. I would like to upgrade to perhaps a 3k [Pure Sine] Inverter, which would be probably DOUBLE what I need with everything on at once, giving me some breathing room so to speak, and with that, perhaps triple my battery bank.
The good news is that approximately 300 feet away is a clearing that receives ample sun, from the south, all day long. I would have no problem building an appropriate solar panel rack there.
I did a Google search, from which the results almost unanimously pointed towards running the ~300 foot span using AC, as opposed to DC, leaving the charge controller(s,) batteries, and inverter with the panels. Easy enough. So here is my quandary...
I calculated the distance using a voltage drop calculator, which will necessitate quite a large cable, at least 1/0. I was thinking of using a mobile home service cable bundle.
So, long story short, my problem is, if I were to purchase a 3k Pure Sine inverter, and place it with the panels, charge controller, and (larger) battery bank in the sunny clearing, how would I adapt the large (1/0) cables to the small, I am assuming 10awg, terminal block the inverter, to run the power to the cabin? Perhaps an adjacent power block? Could you provide me some direction please?
Thank you!
