Fuse box for electrical setup?

[southhillkids]

I am planning on the following:

2x100W solar with MPPT
2x6V GC2 215Ah battery in series to make 12v
12v to 110v inverter

This will power a small 110v dorm fridge, 2x6W lights, a 110v water pump and regular cell phone charge

When I have shore power, these will be powered by a transfer switch

Do I need a fuse box for this setup?
what else what I need?

Thanks for your input!

[Peterjk]

Speaking for me and the way I did my set up, I fused the panels, based on parallel or series Amps rating output of the panels +10%. I Fused the Inverter, based on its internal Amp rating plus 10% I tried to stay on the DC side so as not loose power in the DC to AC conversion process. I stayed with DC on all my power [nearly] except for playtime stuff, like laptops and LED lights and security cameras. For those, they use AC. So I ran two lines, one on each side of the bus, using 2 GFCI/AFCI 20A breakers. 4 outlets on each side and a floating ground, not using the bus chassis as a ground meaning. Just like a house where the first panel is grounded/bonded internally, just not to the bus chassis. Im on 24 volt.

If you want to keep it really simple, just use a power strip and extension cord with a real thick 20 amp extension cable. Just keep a eye on your total amps. Sounds like your like me not using much at all so no need to over complicate it, like I did. There are other much more experienced folks that will reply Im sure, so listen to everyone and decide for yourself, Im just saying what worked for me. Good Luck with your project.

[HamSkoolie]

How much power does the dorm fridge pull?
You're going to have 215Ah at 12 volts. With lead acid tech you shouldn't go more than 50% depth of discharge (which is 12 volts on a meter). You can go deeper but it will shorten the life of the batteries.
That gives you about 1296 watts of usable energy.
Multiply that by 0.9 (losses in converting the DC to AC) and you have about 1166.4 watts available (minus the power needed for the lighting and cell phone charge)
Not sure why you listed a 110 water pump when a 12VDC pump would be more appropriate and easier on the power (type perhaps).
Anyway, if your dorm fridge is efficient (and not opened a lot thus requiring it to run more), you could manage. Do try to avoid conversion from DC however.... use a 12VDC water pump and DC powered USB charger for the phone. ALSO.... ensure that your USB chargers can be turned off when not in use (there is a parasitic draw).One thing to consider is that with just 200 watts of panels you're going to bring in less than a kilowatt a day (about 700 watts on average in Atlanta GA or Sacramento CA), less if you're further north. And on days when the weather is horrid, you will bring in far less so you will have no buffer.

Where I got the Photo Voltaic performance data:
https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/

[flattracker]

I would use a circuit breaker panel even with modest electrical demands.
If something goes wrong electrically and you end up with a short, you could end up with fried wiring that you can't easily get to, or worse.
There are electrical panels out there that are designed for use in RVs. In the "old Crown" and "new Crown" I used a panel with mechanically ganged circuit breakers to switch between outside power generator power and inverter power. There are RV battery chargers with AC and DC circuits available in them that would make your wiring safe and reasonably simple.

[southhillkids]

I decided to go with a LiFePo4 battery instead after research
Also plan to use fuse block/breaker box
thanks everyone for replying to my post!

[Albatross]

Originally Posted by southhillkids

I decided to go with a LiFePo4 battery instead after research
Also plan to use fuse block/breaker box
thanks everyone for replying to my post!

Lithium phosphate is a great battery chemistry, just remember that they're a little temperature sensitive--particularly on the hot side, so you'll want to do your best and keep them above 32-40 degrees and under 80-90 degrees to maximize the life of them. They're expensive, and we still don't have reliable rare-earth recycling programs built/set up, because it's not profitable to do so just yet.

And while they're not as flammable or dangerous as other lithium chemistries, they ARE considered a class-D fire, so you might want to find and keep a PKP fire extinguisher on hand in the off-chance that something ever happens, if you're the worrying sort. I had lithium batteries of various chemistries, not just LiFePO4, and never had any issues, so I would consider the risk to be small. I'm not particularly careful, and I like to push things to their limits and see what they're made of.

[HamSkoolie]

Originally Posted by southhillkids

I decided to go with a LiFePo4 battery instead after research
Also plan to use fuse block/breaker box
thanks everyone for replying to my post!

Signature Solar has the lowest price per watt that I've seen and awesomely small sizes for a given output. 5.12kWh in a single battery that fits 19" rack mounts.