Pamelala

We were hoping to moor for a couple of weeks just past Leighton by the flats, just passed the winding hole but it looks like it's not really safe there.

Good luck with yours too. We have found it so confusing but have gained some sound knowledge from the answers we have had on here. We did speak to the electrician who did the wiring on our boat this morning to ask if we had a shunt to run cables through as on the controller guide. We had so that was good news. All just goes over my head I'm afraid, electricity is so complicated, a steep learning curve. He said run the panels in parallel!!! So parallel or series that is the question!! It seems each way has it good points. Amps or volts??? We will get there one day I'm sure. Then the sun will disappear!

Thanks for the information. Looks like we will be thinking about linking in series now. You can see how clueless we are when it comes to solar power!! Kind regards

Hi I checked with the panel supplier and the panels do have bypass diodes in the junction boxes. Is the advantage of connecting the panels in series rather than in parallel that we use less cable and no combining box or are there other advantages? I have emailed Outback so I will await their reply with interest. Many thanks for your help. Kind regards.

Hi Would you do this with an Outback too?

Thank you for your comments, most useful. The chap we bought the solar panels from advised us to run the panels in parallel to a combiner box because of shading from trees etc so that if one panel was in shade the other two would would continue producing power as normal. What do you think of this idea? Is there a reason why it's typical to run the panels in series? You are right I've just looked at the wiring diagram from outback on the internet and they do suggest 80Adc Maximum Circuit Breaker on the positive cable to the batteries. I had missed that!!!!! On the instructions that came with the controller it just said 'dc disconnect'. Would it be the same as adding a fuse or do I have to get a circuit breaker? Many thanks, kind regards.

Thank you so much for the information you sent in your message and it's very reassuring that you think the cable sizing and runs are ok. Many thanks. Kind regards.

Advise on Solar Setup would be greatly appeciated as we are going round in circles but this is what we have so far. We have 3 solar panels 250 watt ( Pmx 250w- Vmp 30.3v - Imp 8.24A - Voc 37.9V - Isc 8.85A) which we are connecting in parallel. The run from the furthest panel to combiner box is 5.5metres (that includes the 4mm2 cable attached to the solar panel which is about 1 metre long) so we intend to use 6mm2 cable from the MC4 connectors. Would that be ok or can the run be longer? From the combiner box to the mppt controller (outback 80 flexmax) we have a 3metre run and we intend to use 16mm2 cable. Would this be ok? From the controller to batteries which is around 1metre we will use 25mm2 cable. Is that ok? Now we are wondering what size fuse to use and if we need some sort of isolating switch? Can we get fuses suitable for this job at car spare places? Also will this set up accommodate a further 4th solar panel in the future if necessary? The panels are attached to steel roof of the boat via aluminium brackets do we need to earth the panels? Many thanks for any help.