Home Improvement Asked by Terrence on April 28, 2021
I am just getting my feet wet, so I have one 100 watt panel and a 12v marine battery. I plan on running a small water pump to circulate water in a black hose to see if I can heat some water.
The manual talks about grounding. Do I really need to ground this simple system of 1 panel, one battery and a charge controller?
Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100/50
3.2 Grounding
● Battery grounding: the charger can be installed in a positive or
negative grounded system.
Note: apply a single ground connection (preferably close to the
battery) to prevent malfunctioning of the system.
● Chassis grounding: A separate earth path for the chassis
ground is permitted because it is isolated from the positive and
negative terminal.
● The USA National Electrical Code (NEC) requires the use of an
external ground fault protection device (GFPD). These MPPT
chargers do not have internal ground fault protection. The system
electrical negative
should be bonded through a GFPD to earth ground at one (and
only one) location.
● The charger must not be connected with grounded PV arrays
(one ground connection only)
Thank you for you help.
Only if you want your installation to be code compliant and to minimize the risk of fire and electric shock. What are the odds that you'll "forget" to install the ground later when you expand the system to 10 or 20 panels, and add another 20 or 30 batteries? What if there is a fire? There will be an investigation, and if the insurance company can prove that the installation wasn't to code, they may not pay your claim. If, of course, you're alive to collect on it.
Answered by FreeMan on April 28, 2021
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