Solar vs. battery disconnect

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River-Runner

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Joined
Dec 15, 2010
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7
If a guy needs to disconnect the batteries, say to change them out, do you need to cover (shut down) the solar panels until reconnected?
 
robertusa123 said:
Change them out  in the evening
That will work, but it's highly recommended to have disconnect switches - one between the solar panels and the controller, and another between the controller and the batteries.

Kev
 
What Kevin said. Also it is a good idea to make the disconnect between panels and controller a fused disconnect. Usually the power to the controller should be turned on before the solar panels are switched on. If you are talking about the small solar OEM panel don't worry too much about it, but make sure the positive battery cables are kept isolated from anything.
 
My fire department had training on dealing with residential solar panels, which don't have shut off switches between the roof and controller. We were instructed to cover the panels, even at night. Tests show that apparatus-mounted floodlights can be bright enough to produce enough juice to be dangerous.

One more thing to remember.
 
If you put a fuse on the input side and on the output side of your charge controller you can simply remove one of the fuses.  I would remove the input fuse to disconnect the power from the panels.
 

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The Renogy manual states to disconnect the panels from the controller before disconnecting batteries.  I have a switch and a fuse between the controller and the panels.  Also a fuse between the controller and the house batteries.
 

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