Wiring the cabin
Here's a description of my wiring and my charge
control system:
PV panels
-
2 sets of 45 watt Harbor Freight panels, total 90
watts ($400). Rewired and tested. You can see the rewiring in the first episode
of This Old
Shack for the 2008 season.
PV wiring
-
Panels wired to low voltage junction box (Lowe's,
$2.99), bonded together with stainless bolts.
-
Panel negative and ground bonded together.
Grounding
-
1 ground rod ($20) at east end of cabin, 100 amp
service ground cable.
-
east rod bonded to 12 volt negative.
-
1 ground rod ($20) at west end of cabin, 100 amp
service ground cable.
-
west rod bonded to 110 volt neutral / ground.
PV to charge controller
-
10 gauge solid wire (low voltage orange) purchased
at Lowe's home improvement. 30 foot run.
Charge controller
-
Xantrex C-12 charge controller/12 volt
distribution panel ($82).
-
Bulk setting at 14.3, float at 13.3, auto
equalization off.
Generator
-
2500 watt 110 volt, 12 amp 12 volt outputs ($495).
Battery Charger
-
Schumacher battery charger ($80) with
bulk/float. Used at 30 amp setting.
-
Uses 110 of generator output for power.
Battery bank
- 5 group 31, 110 amp hours each, wet cell, non-maintenance free.
House wiring
-
Square D QO (12 volt, 110 volt rated) distribution
panel ($79).
-
3 circuits used. Circuit one is bedroom, circuit 2
is outdoor lights, circuit 3 is living area.
Inverter
-
Xantrex 350 watt modified sine wave inverter.
-
Bonded to 110 volt panel feed.
-
Neutral successfully bonded to 110 grounding.
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