Is this good enough battery cable for a solar system?

[GimmyTree]

Is this good enough battery cable?........

https://www.repco.co.nz/en/brands/narva/...p/A1088450

I think the above is 4 AWG, according to this wire chart: https://tycab.co.nz/product/batterystarter-cable-2/

I'm just checking to make sure I've got the right cable for the wiring from the controller to battery, as well as the battery to inverter. According to this chart I've gone overkill with the wire size, but then again, knowing me I've probably typed in the wrong calculations: https://www.wirebarn.com/Wire-Calculator-_ep_41.html

I'll be using Maxi fuse holders on these connections. The system is a 160 watt panel, 30 AMP MPPT controller, 300 watt inverter and a LiFePO4 battery.

So, am I good to press the buy button?

[Blacktank]

posting to bump this

i believe that a 10 gauge wire is enough from the controller to the battery,10 gauge can carry up to 30 amps which i believe is a lot more than your panel can produce

battery to inverter,as big and as short as you can go

wait for someone with a wizard next to their name to reply

[GotSmart]

posting to bump this

i believe that a 10 gauge wire is enough from the controller to the battery,10 gauge can carry up to 30 amps which i believe is a lot more than your panel can produce

battery to inverter,as big and as short as you can go

wait for someone with a wizard next to their name to reply

A yup. 

The more batteries the bigger the connector wires can be. Nothing smaller than 2 g.

[sternwake]

What wire can fit inside your controller?
4 AWG is not always able to be stuffed into the terminals.

AWG stands for american wire gauge.
Metric countries often use MM2 cross section instead.

Thick copper wire minimizes voltage drop.
This is good, but can be taken to extremes with little to no benefit realized, but bragging rights.

As important, if not more so, is the quality of the cable terminations and wire splices. Proper crimps are not done with vice grips, and soldering can also be done to yield a poor mechanical and electrical connection yet appear to be 'just fine'

Almost all electrical failures are caused by poor weak intermittent connections and efforts should be expended here to prevent problems arising.

With the potential power stored in Lifepo4 take no chances.

While the rigors of marine wire termination perhaps need not be strictly adhered to in RV useage, one should be aware of what IDEAL, is, and then expend enough effort to approach it.

https://marinehowto.com/marine-wire-termination/

https://marinehowto.com/making-your-own-battery-cables/

The whole Marine how to is filled with good info relating to electricity.
https://marinehowto.com/

I consider the author of the articles to be the internet authority of such topics, just keep in mind he is not going to say what you can 'get away with' he is saying how it is Properly and ideally done.

What is 'good enough' for one can be woefully inadequate for another, so beware of opinions, especially when they are stated as fact.

[GimmyTree]

posting to bump this

i believe that a 10 gauge wire is enough from the controller to the battery,10 gauge can carry up to 30 amps which i believe is a lot more than your panel can produce

battery to inverter,as big and as short as you can go

wait for someone with a wizard next to their name to reply

That's good news, I've already got some spare 10 gauge laying around.

Here are the specifics of my panel:

Standard: 160W

Max Power (VMP) 17.8V

Max Power Current (Imp) 9.0A

Open Circuit: (Voc) 21.1V

Short Circuit: (Isc) 9.5A

Max Sys Voltage: DC1000V

[GimmyTree]

What wire can fit inside your controller?
4 AWG is not always able to be stuffed into the terminals.

AWG stands for american wire gauge.
Metric countries often use MM2 cross section instead.

Thick copper wire minimizes voltage drop.
This is good, but can be taken to extremes with little to no benefit realized, but bragging rights.

As important, if not more so, is the quality of the cable terminations and wire splices. Proper crimps are not done with vice grips, and soldering can also be done to yield a poor mechanical and electrical connection yet appear to be 'just fine'

Almost all electrical failures are caused by poor weak intermittent connections and efforts should be expended here to prevent problems arising.

With the potential power stored in Lifepo4 take no chances.

While the rigors of marine wire termination perhaps need not be strictly adhered to in RV useage, one should be aware of what IDEAL, is, and then expend enough effort to approach it.

https://marinehowto.com/marine-wire-termination/

https://marinehowto.com/making-your-own-battery-cables/

The whole Marine how to is filled with good info relating to electricity.
https://marinehowto.com/

I consider the author of the articles to be the internet authority of such topics, just keep in mind he is not going to say what you can 'get away with' he is saying how it is Properly and ideally done.

What is 'good enough' for one can be woefully inadequate for another, so beware of opinions, especially when they are stated as fact.

I didn't think about the controller terminals, it looks like a maximum of 6AWG can it into the controller terminals. I'm guessing I can have 10AWG for the controller to battery and 6AWG for the battery to inverter?

The panel short circuit: (Isc) is 9.5A.

I've taken some photo's of the controller, inverter and battery specifics:

Inverter specifics:
https://imgur.com/a/DC8mfGy

Controller specifics:
https://imgur.com/a/yBdzDS5

Battery specifics:
https://imgur.com/a/nAQjXoB

Thanks for the links, I'll have a read before I go ahead with the installation.

[TWIH]

What wire can fit inside your controller? 
4 AWG is not always able to be stuffed into the terminals.

AWG stands for american wire gauge.
Metric countries often use MM2 cross section instead.

Thick copper wire minimizes voltage drop.
This is good, but can be taken to extremes with little to no benefit realized, but bragging rights.

As important, if not more so, is the quality of the cable terminations and wire splices.  Proper crimps are not done with vice grips, and soldering can also be done to yield a poor mechanical and electrical connection yet appear to be 'just fine'

Almost all electrical failures are caused by poor weak intermittent connections and efforts should be expended here to prevent problems arising.

With the potential power stored in Lifepo4 take no chances.

While the rigors of marine wire termination perhaps need not be strictly adhered to in RV useage, one should be aware of what IDEAL, is, and then expend enough effort to approach it.

https://marinehowto.com/marine-wire-termination/

https://marinehowto.com/making-your-own-battery-cables/

The whole Marine how to is filled with good info relating to electricity.
https://marinehowto.com/

I consider the author of the articles to be the internet authority of such topics, just keep in mind he is not going to say what you can 'get away with' he is saying how it is Properly and ideally done.

What is 'good enough' for one can be woefully inadequate for another, so beware of opinions, especially when they are stated as fact.

Wow, I spent an hour, literally, reading his comparison of Lifepo and lead acid battery technology article, which was 90 plus percent devoted to Lifepo. What it showed me was that not only is the use of the unmonitored “drop-in” (re: Renogy or Battleborn) batteries not the greatest idea (yet) for the average dweller, but the DYI of Lion cells into a large battery could be quite dangerous (and costly due to errors).

While some may feel they have waited long enough to adopt this newer battery system, it sure doesn’t seem like its “mass market” ready as of yet.  Note- I did not see the date of his article but really, has there been a long enough test period for Lion yet?   

If the reader has gone ahead and installed Lion batteries for their house bank, I hope you have the funds to replace them once or twice, based on the lengthy article’s warnings.  (And the author has a 400 amp Lifepo system on his own boat).