panel install question

BR

breathe deep

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Jun 11, 2010
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So i received an 80 watt panel in the mail from amazon yesterday. It is the Sharp NE-80EJEA. It comes with mounting instructions for a stationary mount, using hardware that is not supplied. It does come with some brackets and also some bolts and screws, they are just a bit different from the manual. It also comes with some thick round rubber gaskets.

My questions, and i hope a more proficient DIY'er came help me out here,

Where should the gaskets go in the chain? Gasket on the camper, or in between the bracket and panel?

I have read lots of solar install threads so i have a clue, just not sure. The brackets can be bolted on tightly to the panel, but then when i try to turn them they loosen up entirely. I am hoping that with four of them securing the panel to the roof they won't have a chance to move and thus loosen entirely.

Thanks for helping out folks.
 
Where should the gaskets go in the chain? Gasket on the camper, or in between the bracket and panel?


The instructions for my Sunforce 70-watt CIGS panel show the rubber gaskets between the panel frame and the bracket. I'd guess that yours would be the same.
(However, I decided to use my panel free-standing -- not mounted flat on the camper roof -- due to the low angle of the sun during winter in my latitudes, so I didn't use the gaskets/brackets in that way.)
 
here are the brackets, gaskets, and the hole on panel for attachment. maybe a picture will help you help me!

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Thanks Mark.
I just tried your suggestion and although the brackets cannot be tightened until they are totally immobile, the gaskets do seem to prevent them from loosening with movement. I wonder if there is something i can use to lock the bolt into place permanently? Anyone know of such a thing? Maybe a glue or washer type thinG?
 
For the wiring of my panel, is the negative the ground? I have never done any DC wiring.


yes it is....

but....
both wires should go to the charge controller or load.
you dont attach the neg wire to ground near the panel and run one positive lead. you run both wires to the load.

that raises an interesting question:is the camper frame used as a gound? it might not be.
it thought that even the exterior lamps all had two wire routed and did not rely on a ground for a negative return path.
 
I know you got a different charge controller than I have...but on mine it's marked + and - for connections from the solar panel and + and - for connections to the battery. So that made it fool-proof for me. Yours must have something similar....doesn't it?

BTW: Your brackets and rubber-thing are identical to mine.
 
Yes Herr42 my panel does say that the frame may be used as the ground. So my understanding is that i would take my negative wire and run it like so...Junction box on panel>Frame of panel>Controller>Battery. It seems to me that connecting the wire to the panel frame is going to open it up to the elements, causing corrosion and potentially water contact. I must be missing soemthing.

Mark i have an ASC 8 amp controller. It spells it out for me right on the controller so i should be able to not screw that up! I am just a bit confused on the ground still.

Will the ground terminate at the frame or continue on to the controller as the negative input?
 
Mark i have an ASC 8 amp controller. It spells it out for me right on the controller so i should be able to not screw that up! I am just a bit confused on the ground still.

Will the ground terminate at the frame or continue on to the controller as the negative input?


Well, I should first mention that I'm not an expert in this subject
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but on my controller there's a little solar-panel icon, and under that icon there's a positive and negative connector, so I can only assume that it means I connect the positive and negative leads from the panel to those pos and neg connectors. And then the pos and neg "out" connectors (under a battery icon) to the pos and neg of the battery. In fact, I connected my panel to my controller and battery using that configuration and it seemed to work. An in-line meter showed voltage and current flow -- in the expected ranges for the sun-light level and battery-charge level -- and best of all there was no smoke or sparking!
biggrin.gif
 
Thanks Mark. I understand that part of the wiring.

How does the ground factor into the setup? How is your panel grounded?
 
Thanks Mark. I understand that part of the wiring.

How does the ground factor into the setup? How is your panel grounded?


I guess there is no ground. The junction box on the back of my panel has just 2 wires: Positive and Negative. Does the junction box on the back of your panel have a 3rd wire?
The instructions for my panel make no mention of grounding -- just to connect those two wires to a charge controller, that's all.
 
I guess there is no ground. The junction box on the back of my panel has just 2 wires: Positive and Negative. Does the junction box on the back of your panel have a 3rd wire?
The instructions for my panel make no mention of grounding -- just to connect those two wires to a charge controller, that's all.



The junction box on my panel has 8 input screws. The panel came with just one pair of wires. The manual talks of a grounding hole on the panel to use to ground the panel. It is very unspecific and at this point has pi**ed me off pretty completely.
Any wire going to the grounding hole is exposed to the elements because the hole is on the panel frame. My manual reads, " All PV modules must be grounded by electrical connection of the module frames to ground......For grounding, each PV module has a hole in the frame for an appropriate screw."

I am guessing that i run a separate wire from the junction box, using an unused wire port and have that wire terminate at the frame.

Obviously i don't know much about this stuff but like to learn and do things myself.
 
The junction box on my panel has 8 input screws. The panel came with just one pair of wires. The manual talks of a grounding hole on the panel to use to ground the panel. It is very unspecific and at this point has pi**ed me off pretty completely.
Any wire going to the grounding hole is exposed to the elements because the hole is on the panel frame. My manual reads, " All PV modules must be grounded by electrical connection of the module frames to ground......For grounding, each PV module has a hole in the frame for an appropriate screw."

I am guessing that i run a separate wire from the junction box, using an unused wire port and have that wire terminate at the frame.

Obviously i don't know much about this stuff but like to learn and do things myself.


Huh.... I don't know either. Inside my junction box I see there is a 3rd post -- maybe for grounding...but there were no instructions to attach a ground or even to open the junction box, since the wires were already mounted and extending out through the weather-tight box.
I'm sure someone on this board knows the real explanation, but I don't. (I'm an engineer, professionally, but not an electrical engineer!)
I'm heading out for the weekend camping in a couple of hours...with my new solar panel -- its first trip! Then I'll find out if there are any "consequences" of how I have it wired. I guess if I'm never seen again on this forum you can assume the worst...
tongue.gif
 
Have a great time Mark. Thanks for sticking with me here and helping me problem solve.

Hope you solar works with no hitch and that i see you posting here when you return!
 
Huh.... I don't know either. Inside my junction box I see there is a 3rd post -- maybe for grounding...but there were no instructions to attach a ground or even to open the junction box, since the wires were already mounted and extending out through the weather-tight box.
I'm sure someone on this board knows the real explanation, but I don't. (I'm an engineer, professionally, but not an electrical engineer!)
I'm heading out for the weekend camping in a couple of hours...with my new solar panel -- its first trip! Then I'll find out if there are any "consequences" of how I have it wired. I guess if I'm never seen again on this forum you can assume the worst...
tongue.gif



i dont know for sure, but, the frames are probably tied to an earth ground in a home installed grid tie system.
no need in an rv.
 
Herr i think you are probably right. This panel is designed for household use, or at least stationary use. I hope it holds up on the camper. As for the ground i am going to go ahead and assume its unnecessary and continue to research it.


Anyone have a picture or link to a disconnect switch i can wire into the battery and the types of inline fuses i would use if i choose? Researching inline fuses and google comes back with MANY different types...the bewilderment continues.
 
Have a great time Mark. Thanks for sticking with me here and helping me problem solve.

Hope you solar works with no hitch and that i see you posting here when you return!


Yep, it works!...as I posted in my solar panel questions thread....so excited I didn't wait until I returned to post
tongue.gif


I hope your setup works out -- mounting and electrical -- as well.
smile.gif
 
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