solar wiring for dummies

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When I first started this project I thought we had put all the pieces and expensives together.  WRONG!  TheSunchaser 8 Dual Axis Solar Tracker and all it's components had to be wired together.  The panels connect to the combiner box that connects to the Hybrid inverter that connects to the Grid and the batteries.  AND, they all have different wiring requirements.

So what to do?  EASY, break it down step by step.

Parallel or series?  As we got deeper into this project I read an in depth article about this question.  My takeaway is panels should be wired parallel.  Why?  If panels are wired in series and one panel is damaged or fails, the entire array suffers the loss.  If the panels are wired in parallel and one panel fails, you only lose the power from one panel.  The only downside we see is you are transmitting power at higher amperage requiring heavier wire.  That is a one time expense.

Wiring the panels will probably be the easiest task as the panel leads are all plug and play and come in a generous combination of sizes.  In this system you will wire the panels to an 8 panel combiner box at the Sunchaser 8 tracker that is fused and switched.  Danger! Be careful! At this point you will be handling 48v at 90AMPs.  Once the panels are exposed to light, they will be producing electricity.