I’m preparing to build a solar PV for my house. (off-grid due to unstable power here)
48V with 2 inverters in parallel
for now it will be one charge controller with 12 PV panels
about 30kW on battery storage
I was searching for a decent bussbar and fuse holder system and I’ve come down to using ANL fuses (due to availability here) and made my own busbar/fuse holder combo.
Coating? Well, only recommendations and articles that copper bus bars need a coating are coming from … surprise… Coating Manufacturers
Generally, copper will coat itself with a patina to prevent any further corrosion and bellow the connection points it should be save - or did you ever coat any copper wire before putting it into a breaker or something where it is gonna sit for 25 years+
I didn’t put anything onto my bars until now. But ofc. It’s not like my system will be unattended for several months, I will closely watch this and eventually check connections once in a while, etc.
Very nice, i done something similar but used Class T fuses, i only coated the joints (as i have copper bolts on copper busbar i didn’t have to but…), i had my busbar made for me so i could connect all the batteries + and fuses on one continues length. (i couldn’t bend 25x10mm copper easily)
This is the stuff i use to protect the joints.
Do you plan on switching the system off should you ever need to change a fuse? A 48V busbar inbetween two grounded busbars sounds like fun to work on while its powered on.
yes, the system will be off when changing fuses and/or checking overall state. I’m very used to power outages. turning all OFF is not a big issue.
the battery switch will be on the side of the bussbar/fuse
I can change the copper bar order and have the fuses out of the way but I know I could try to do it while its HOT but its to risky…
I don’t want to mess around with 30kW of batteries. they will chew trough the copper bar easy.
if/when I have to add more batteries I’ll probably have to extend positive busbar to have decent spacing for the sets of terminals (going into the battery Switches).
I still have to take it apart to clean and do a “safety” coating. I have the chemicals for years and I’m pretty sure it will help when the time comes to change a fuse (or add a second PV array)
I’m not sure on what coating to use. I have a cold tin solution and I can get my hands on a silver coating solution for cheap.
The silver one looks amazing (I’ve used up all my stock) but the tin might be enough. It’s just a detail since I have the fuses on the busbar and if/when I have to replace a fuse in a slight hurry… I don’t think I’ll do a good cleaning job on any corrosion there …
been working on my system and reading all the details in the manuals of all my parts and has to make a change to my busbar.
also made it a little more expansion proof if/when I have to add to the system.
I’ve also added a silver coating to the bars since I may have a little corrosion due to humidity… better safe than sorry since the coating is cheap but pretty toxic and kinda labour intensive… (but I’ll show the results!)
not shown in here are the protection plastics that I still need to cut/modify but now my busbar has fuses, the load side contactor and the battery isolator switch (to make it a little bit more compact)
also changed the bars. now its more accessible for connections and change fuses.
in the begining I’ll have a solar charge controller and 2 inverters. soon(ish) ill want to add a second charge controller and double on the batteries (money and space issues for now… I have to pretty much remake all my electrical panels while changing to solar)
any inputs or ideas are welcome. better to correct any issue now than later on
