Ground Wire For Solar Panels

Solar sizing calculator allows you to calculate your energy consumption and requirements to help you decide on your solar panel requirements.

Ground wire for solar panels.

If you use conduit run the ground wire outside the conduit. Some standard ground mounted solar panel systems can be manually adjusted a few times a year to account for seasonal shifts of the sun. For burial runs use bare copper wire. Besides this solar cable gauge calculator is designed to provide estimates for wire gauge size to determine your need for cables.

Standard ground mounts use metal framing driven into the ground to hold your solar panels up at a fixed angle. Connect or bond all ground rods together via bare copper wire 6 or larger see the nec and bury the wire. Use twisted pair cable for any communication or control cables for example a float switch cable for full tank shutoff of a solar water pump. Leave around 6 above ground to properly attach your copper wire to the grounding rod.

Simply stated the higher the voltage the smaller the wire size that is needed to carry the current. The main issue is the wire size needed for the usually fairly long run to the solar panels. For outdoor grounding you need to use thick bare copper wire that can handle large electrical currents like lightening. Once there it could arc again to the house wiring and use its grounding system instead.

If lightning were to strike the solar panels outside the electric current may go into the panel grounding system if you are lucky or it may travel along the positive and negative wires going back to the inverter inside your house. Appropriate bonding and equipment grounding limits the voltage imposed on a system by lightning line surges and unintentional contact with higher voltage lines. If your photovoltaic array is some distance from the house drive ground rod s near it and bury bare wire in the trench with the power lines. The one strand conductor type wire is most commonly used in domestic wiring and should be okay for your solar system however if your area is prone to consistent and extremely high winds you may want to consider wire types with a multi stranded conductor as it is more flexible thus more durable.

Regardless of system voltage equipment grounding is required on all pv systems. There are two basic types of ground mounted solar panel systems. The additional earth contact will improve the grounding of the system. Use only approved clamps to connect wire to rods.