DieITou Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 (edited) Hi everyone. Need a bit of advice please on the way forward with current install with the max amount of panels I can add. Currently the system is about a year old. Kodak OG 5.48, 8x Canadian 365w KuMax panels (8s) , 4.8kwh Shoto Lith. Specs on Inverter: Max PV 5KW, MPPT range 120-430 VDC, max VOC 500 VDC. Not 100% confirmed but max input current on one or two sites 18A Panels spec on 1000 W/m2: Pmax 365W, Vmp 39.8V, Imp 9.18A, Voc 47.2v, Isc 9.75A The system is running great, powering everything on essential side, stuff left on non-essential is geyser and oven (got a gas hob). Got a plan in mind for the geyser so thats why the question regarding more panels and helps a bit with overcast. A friend of mine who installed the same time as me and his panels are out of the same batch as mine is planning to change his 6 panels he has to 450w+ panels. At last I can get to the question. I'm thinking of taking over his panels and maybe running a 6p2s ( 4.38Kw 18.36A, VOC 283.2v) or 7p2s (5.1Kw, 18.36A, VOC 330.4v) configuration. but with the series config I'll be pushing the input current to 18.36. Any input will be much appreciated. roof real-estate is not a problem can accommodate parallel strings and is pointing 357 degrees (N) Thanks Edited June 11, 2021 by DieITou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetrasection Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, DieITou said: I'm thinking of taking over his panels and maybe running a 6p2s ( 4.38Kw 18.36A, VOC 283.2v) or 7p2s (5.1Kw, 18.36A, VOC 330.4v) configuration. but with the series config I'll be pushing the input current to 18.36. I think you mean 2p6s and 2p7s? Series connections increase the voltage, parallel connections increase the current. I would give 2p7s a try. I may be wrong but I highly doubt that an extra 0.3A is going to do anything. Besides, depending on your setup you might not even reach that amperage. What is the maximum current you get from your panels in their current configuration? I guess if you really want to know for sure before forking out cash; rewire your panels to a 2p4s configuration and see how the inverter behaves. Edited June 11, 2021 by tetrasection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieITou Posted June 11, 2021 Author Share Posted June 11, 2021 (edited) @tetrasectionyes sorry you are right. i swapped the 'p' and 's' around. What I saw on nice sunny days that the panels perform way better than one would expect so that is why I'm a bit cautious. On nice sunny days I hit 3438w and 11.7A from these 8 panels. So either I must just get one extra panel for 9s and save up for a 5/8Kw Sunsynk Edited June 11, 2021 by DieITou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetrasection Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 5 minutes ago, DieITou said: @tetrasectionyes sorry you are right. i swapped the 'p' and 's' around. What I saw on nice sunny days that the panels perform way better than one would expect so that is why I'm a bit cautious. On nice sunny days I hit 3438w and 11.7A from these 8 panels. So either I must just get one extra panel to doe 9s and safe up for a 5/8Kw Sunsynk Those are pretty impressive numbers! Yeah, in that case... 23.4A on an 18A inverter is really pushing it... One possible option is to have a current limiting circuit before your inverter to keep it under 18A. You'll have to find someone else to help you with that though, since my understanding on the matter goes as far as getting confused when looking at the wikipedia entry lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coulomb Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) On 2021/06/11 at 6:48 PM, tetrasection said: 23.4A on an 18A inverter is really pushing it... Yes. Don't do it. You could end up with this (from just 20 A): https://forums.aeva.asn.au/viewtopic.php?p=80051#p80051 Have you confirmed your over-performance, e.g. with a clamp meter that you trust and know how to use properly? If it actually never exceeds 9.15 A, then you should be OK. Edited June 12, 2021 by Coulomb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieITou Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 Never checked with a clamp meter now that you mention it. Got the info from the inverter that pushes info via solpiplog(MQTT) to home assistant. The amperage that went to the batteries to charge it was high as well so I wasn't to skeptical about the values. Going to give 6s2p a tri and see what it does as soon as the panels become available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieITou Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 The idea of 6s2p was canned and in turn I decided to sell all the solar panels and will be going with 9s 490w JA Solar Mono. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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