Hi Jim, A little more prep work is needed I think. There is a small utility program called wire sizer from Alden Trull that is a free download. I have been using it for years to calculate voltage drop and wire size in odd lenghts and specific current levels. Great for non standard values like tables use.
There is a product by Deutche(sp) who make water proof connectors for the back side of solar panels and other electrical connections.. These connectors have the same style dust and moisture seals as you now see on al lautomotive engine connectors. LADD is the North Americna distributors. Its essentially a Y connector to daisy chain a row of solar panels together then feed the whole lot into a charge controller. I concur with the recommendation to use a MPPT style controller. I also think it prudent to go at least #10 Ga . Even a 5% voltage drop is excessive in a solar array. MATRIX shows them in their catalog for solar panel installs. Go to an electrical supply wholesaler and look for Heyco or Scepter brand gland fittings. For a Coast Guard job we used exactly that. If you cable is not round but oval, Scepter has variable sized/shaped rubber inserts to suit most cable shapes. And you only pay a couple of bucks per fitting instead of tens of dollars at the marine store. Both are plastic ( engineered plastic not junk) so corrosion is not an issue like with the chromed brass stuf from West Marine etc. regards Arild ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > In preparation for installing my solar panels, I'm going to run the > wires perhaps this weekend. I am planning on running #12. Does that > sound reasonable? > > Also what's anyone use to get wires through the deck? > I plan on having a connector at the solar panel in a semi protected area > so I don't probably don't want a connector on the deck. > > Suggestions? > > Thanks, > Jim. _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
