Stand-alone solar electric systems can seem pretty complex with enough connections to frustrate the far more complex neuronal pathways in the human brain. There is, however, a way to avoid some of the confusion: install a power center.
A power center is the grand central station of a stand-alone solar electric system. All of the components of the system connect here. For example, there are busses (connection points) to which the electrical wires leading to the battery bank, the inverter, and the solar array all connect. The power center houses the disconnects, the charge controllers, and the meters required by a system, too, making it relatively easy for someone with a few million functional brain cells to hook up a system.
I love my power center and strongly recommend that you consider one, too, if you are going to install a stand-alone system. It may cost you a bit more than buying the components separately, but it is well worth it when you take into account the reductions in cerebral hemorrhaging that will result from attempts to buy all of the components separately and wire them in some meaningful and functional manner that meets all of the safety requirements of the National Electrical Code.
Another good reason to consider buying a power center is that they are very popular among electrical inspectors who typically know very little about solar electric systems. When an inspector sees a power center, he or she knows that all of the essential safety circuitry and all of the vital components required in a solar electric system are present and accounted for, housed as it were within that outwardly simple box. Rather than have to go through the system with a fine-toothed comb, they’ll take one look at your system, find the UL (Underwriter’s Laboratory) sticker, and then check it off on their inspection sheet and move on to their next home inspection.
Learn more about Powering Your Home with Solar Electricity .
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