Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Power Forum - Renewable Energy Discussion

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Cable size

Featured Replies

I bought a 5kva Hibrid inverter and a 48v lithuim battery what size cable do I use from the inverter to the distribution board and back to the inverter? I bought a 16mm twin earth cable but the installer say it should be 6mm the supplier sold me the 16mm. Which is the right cable to use

14 hours ago, Rallybert said:

I bought a 16mm twin earth cable but the installer say it should be 6mm the supplier sold me the 16mm.

16 mm² is giant for twin-and-earth house cable. You likely can't get that into the inverter terminals. 6 mm² (that's cross-sectional area, not linear width) is good for 38 A (~8.7 kVA) in all conditions, so that should be plenty.

I was advised that drawing 10mm (if you have 63amp breakers) for the backbone in your house is better. If at some point you want to upgrade the inverter to something that can transfer more than 40A (the limit on 6mm), then you are stuck. It isn’t much more expensive, so just draw 10mm from the get go, then you don’t place a bottle neck into your infrastructure.

59 minutes ago, jykenmynie said:

I was advised that drawing 10mm (if you have 63amp breakers) for the backbone in your house is better.

16mm for 63 Amp, 10mm for 50Amp, 6mm for 40Amp, 4 mm for 30Amp, 2,5mm for 25amp and 1.5mm for 15Amp. Over normal residential distances, for longer distances you would upsize the cable. This is SANS in a nutshell, different mounting methods might have different current carrying capacity ratings. 

11 minutes ago, Jaco de Jongh said:

16mm for 63 Amp, 10mm for 50Amp, 6mm for 40Amp, 4 mm for 30Amp, 2,5mm for 25amp and 1.5mm for 15Amp. Over normal residential distances, for longer distances you would upsize the cable. This is SANS in a nutshell, different mounting methods might have different current carrying capacity ratings. 

In that case, definitely put in the 16mm. You’ve got nothing to lose and you have a hybrid inverter, so rather be safe than sorry.

  • Author
On 2020/07/18 at 7:18 AM, Coulomb said:

16 mm² is giant for twin-and-earth house cable. You likely can't get that into the inverter terminals. 6 mm² (that's cross-sectional area, not linear width) is good for 38 A (~8.7 kVA) in all conditions, so that should be plenty.

Thank you much appreciated

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.