DC Voltage, Amperage and wire length

howiegrapek

Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2017
Messages
52
Hi all - I have a few questions regarding my new design and how distance affects DC Voltage / Amperage.

After watching almost all of Pete's videos, I see that Pete's sheds have everything in them and feed AC into the home - yes, the sheds are separated from the home, but he has connections to PV array, the batteries, the inverter/charge controllers, etc. All of this is outside his home, in metal structures and it makes things safer that way. Yet from what I can tell, all of this is still fairly close to the living area (In one of the earlier videos, Pete said that his bedroom is just behind the wall where the shed is). Is more distance better?

With distance comes resistance and drop of power in AC lines. I think it is like a 10% drop per 100 meters or something like that depending on the gauge of the wire and number of amps. Please feel free to provide details here - it is good information and I don't have those formulas.

Here is my situation:
I have a very large piece of property - many acres.
A good portion of my PV array set is set up in a very sunny area clear of trees - they are all on the ground on adjustable rails with the ability to quickly change the panel's angles to maximize the sun's rays for different times of the year. That area also doubles as a raised veggie garden, so the panels also provides a little shade for the growing plants.
That is another project...a different thread,

BUT, with respect to safety, distance, and voltage/amperage drop due to resistance, I have a few questions and would love your thoughts.
Lets say you have a big sturdy shed in your yard - perhaps 100 meters away from your dwelling. This is where the 18650 Powerwall shall live.
And the PV array another 200 meters away (as is the case in my homestead).

I have conduit buried from the PV array to the shed (it is 24 inches / roughly 600 mm deep) -
I have two similar conduit buried from the shed to my dwelling (one for power, one for fiber and Ethernet connectivity).

I want to bring only the high voltage DC from the shed to the house and then invert it there. At the same place where the grid enters the house.
What implications are there for DC to traverse from the shed to the house?
Yes, high DC voltage (48v) .... I remember reading somewhere that distance and DC doesn't act the same as resistance drop in wires for AC.

For safety reasons, why not put everything DC outside, (as above) and run the inverter and so on in the house?

Does anyone have any formulas or thoughts about this?

Thanks!!
 
The Problem with DC over distance is the Cost of the wire you will need to minimize losses. 200 meters while not being long is still a distance it will have a significant drop. AC from the shed to the house will be your best choice and the higher the DV voltage from the panels to the Shed will reduce your Solar losses.
 
Distance is never a good thing.
To reduce loses, you have to increase voltage or increase cable diameter.
Cables get expencive above 6mm2, therfore it is more common with larger solar array's to put the panels in series to increase the voltage.
48v is not high DC voltage, my solar installationhas a voltage of 700vdc, mppt starts at about 390vdc. Thats high voltage ;)
 
Back
Top