Solar Panel Wiring - Selecting the Correct Wire Gauge is Important For Safety and Efficiency

When you are doing ANY electrical wiring - ask yourself these questions. Do I know what I am doing? Is it SAFE? Should I get a professional to assist? For a DIY project, make sure you really do understand what you are doing, you may be compromising not only safety but also insurance policies.

If you are considering a DIY Solar project, we strongly suggest you obtain a comprehensive guide that covers all aspects of the build. Solar panels are not difficult to build, but there are both technical aspects and practical points to make your project a success. Depending on the number of panels, your controller and storage, along with how far your cabling will run, you need to make sure that your cables are of the correct gauge (thickness).

The wiring within your panel and leading to your storage system needs to be done correctly. Further, when you connect your solar panel array up to your storage system, your supply cable needs to be of the correct size. When you buy electrical cable, remember, the smaller the gauge, the thicker the wire. Knowing what gauge wire to use on a specific free working psn codes installation and the amperage each specific wire can handle is necessary to install the proper wiring for your solar panel.

When running your cables, you need to consider both the power rating of your panel or array, and how far the cables will run to the controller and storage system. All electrical wire, no matter what material it is made out of, has a certain electrical resistance. Electrical resistance increases as the diameter wire gets smaller, and also as the length of the cable gets longer. By using the wrong diameter wire over a long distance and you will have a significant drop in voltage by the time it reaches the storage unit.

The solution is easy, just choose the correct sized wire to lessen the effects. However, if the run is over 50 feet, you should use even lower gauge wire(thicker) instead of that used for a short run. The voltage drop on wires due to resistance also causes wires to heat up and which in turn supplies less voltage to run the devices attached to it. More seriously, if you then have a sudden over-load, you may be in danger of a short-out resulting in a possible fire hazard. Make sure you know the size of the loads you will be using and the distance it must travel, it will save you money and frustration later.


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