fastline
Senior Member
- Location
- midwest usa
I have been thrown in to help design an off grid PV system. Right now the system is being designed around 20 KW of panels, and 10KWH of Li battery storage. The distance between the array and service point will be approx 400ft. There is also a definite plan for a lot of expansion to the system so I need to drop spare conduits, and think ahead. I am looking for the highest practical DC operating voltage and have yet to comb through codes to see if there is much out there on it? I don't yet know where we will end up but looking like 500-550VDC will be a target, mostly to minimize conductor losses over the distance. Many charge controllers appear to be getting on board with the higher voltage, but there is still a LOT of low V stuff due to the DIYers.
Our battery bank voltage will have to be configured to play nice with the inverters, and that right now is being proposed at 48V.
I am curious if you guys are running at higher voltages?
Also, it would seem many equipment OEMs like to offer proprietary controls, monitor software, etc. There is a large push to find a solution that is more generic so we are not married to a brand of inverter and controls. Right now we are looking for Inet or at least PC based solutions because we need to be able to monitor the system remotely. It would be VERY preferred to control the system remotely as well, but that may not be required at the first stage.
Monitored systems would be the typical power, power trends, voltages, temperatures, etc.
Our battery bank voltage will have to be configured to play nice with the inverters, and that right now is being proposed at 48V.
I am curious if you guys are running at higher voltages?
Also, it would seem many equipment OEMs like to offer proprietary controls, monitor software, etc. There is a large push to find a solution that is more generic so we are not married to a brand of inverter and controls. Right now we are looking for Inet or at least PC based solutions because we need to be able to monitor the system remotely. It would be VERY preferred to control the system remotely as well, but that may not be required at the first stage.
Monitored systems would be the typical power, power trends, voltages, temperatures, etc.