This system currently powers a 400W Air Conditioner from late morning to late afternoon, a full sized MAME arcade cabinet, and wireless router.
Current configuration:
- (1) 50A Victron MPPT with (2) series strings of (3) 100W Mono panels in parallel (72V)
- (1) 20A Epever MPPT with (2) 100W Mono panels in series (48V)
- (1) 50A Renogy MPPT DC-to-DC charge controller with (1) 100W Mono panel (24V)
- (1) 10A Generic PWM connected for windmill
- (1) PV Combiner box with 6 fuses and diodes (for 72V array)
- (1) 1500W pure sine inverter connected to 150Ah Battery
- (1) LiFePO4 14.4v 50Ah battery on the 10A PWM, 50A Victron, & 50A Renogy CCs
- (1) LiFePO4 14.4v 150Ah battery on the 20A Epever, 50A Renogy CCs
- (1) 500F 16v Super Capacitor parallel with the 150Ah battery
- (1) 200A Inline power meter with shunt and display
- (1) 12VDC Switchbox, connected to 150Ah battery
- (1) 24VDC Switchbox, directly connected to (1) 100W panel for daytime (24V)
- (1) 5-24VDC Timer Relay
- (1) 24VDC cooling fan
- (1) 12W wind turbine connected to 50Ah battery bank
- (1) Boost converter inline between windmill and 10A CC
Here is a crude wiring diagram (40A CC was upgraded to a 50A CC):
Wind turbine produces 9-12V when wind is blowing strong and steady, and the charge controller doesn’t really kick in unless the input voltage is higher than battery voltage, so I added one of these boost converters that basically convert amps into higher voltage, heres what that looks like in some gusts:
How I connected my current setup:
- PV Panels and Charge Controllers:
- Connect the series strings of 100W mono panels to the PV combiner box using 10 AWG copper wire. Use 15A fuses on the positive wires of each string.
- Connect the 50A Victron MPPT charge controller to the PV combiner box using 10 AWG copper wire. Use a 60A fuse on the positive wire to the 50Ah battery block terminal.
- Connect the 20A MPPT charge controller to the (2) 100W mono panels in series using 12 AWG copper wire. Use a 30A fuse on the positive wire to the 150Ah battery block terminal
- Connect the 50A Renogy MPPT DC-to-DC charge controller to the 100W mono panel using 12 AWG copper wire. Use a 15A fuse on the positive wire.
- Battery Banks and Charge Controllers:
- Connect the 150Ah battery bank to the 10A and 50A charge controllers using 6 AWG copper wire to the fused terminal block for 150Ah battery bank.
- Connect the 50Ah battery bank to the 10A, 50A Victron, and 50A Renogy charge controllers using 6 AWG copper wire. Use 15A, 50A, 60A fuses to the fused terminal block for 50Ah battery bank
- Supercapacitor and Inverter:
- Connect the supercapacitor in parallel with the 150Ah battery bank using 2 AWG copper wire. Use a 120A fuse on the positive wire between the supercapacitor and the battery bank.
- Connect the battery bank (150Ah + supercapacitor) to the inverter using 2 AWG copper wire. Use a 120A fuse on the positive wire between the battery bank and the inverter.
- Boost Converter and Windmill:
- Connect the windmill to the boost converter using 8 AWG copper wire.
- Connect the output of the boost converter to the 10A PWM charge controller using 12 AWG copper wire. Use a 15A fuse on the positive wire between the boost converter and the charge controller.
- Power Meter and Shunt:
- Connect the power meter and shunt in series with the shared negative connection of the battery banks using 2 AWG copper wire.
- Inverter Grounding:
- Ground the inverter by connecting the grounding wire to a grounding rod or grounding system using 6 AWG copper wire.
- PV Combiner Box and Grounding:
- Connect grounding wires from the PV combiner box and other relevant components to a grounding rod or grounding system using 6AWG copper wire
- 6AWG ground extended from pv combiner box to each solar panel frame, daisy-chained, drilled through frame.
Future plans:
Replace wood with DIN Rails
Replace terminal blocks with DIN mount terminal blocks
Replace fuses with DIN mount circuit breakers
Add diodes and additional 10A PWM for reverse voltage wind direction charging
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