What is the best set up for a safe solar panel system?

[tina-duncan]

So I'm not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to electrical connections and the like but I tend to have a fair idea. I'm currently planning on building a solar panel with the hope that it will power appliances throughout my house.

My planned set up is as follows:

>> 36 0.5V 3.6A cells connected in series so I'd imagine that's about 60W (I may hook up an identical panel in parallel to produce 120W),
>> Connect the panel to a charge controller (with a built in blocking diode).
>> Connect to a 12V deep cycle battery.
>> Connect to a 12V-230V 300W Inverter.

So first off, is this a correct set up, ie will it actually work/have I missed any key things?
Is any grounding required and if so where abouts in the set up?
Is there a specific type of wire that I should be using?

I'd really appreciate any help here plus anything else I may need to do, obviously my main concern is safety and I don't want anything going wrong.
Also if anyone else on here has successfully built a solar panel I'd love to hear your set up.

Thanks :)

 

[anorlunda]

You should definitely use a MPPT controller. They get much more energy from your panels. Also a 3 stage battery charge controller to protect battery life.

The MPPT controller's documentation will tell you the preferred way to connect the panels in series or parallel, or even combinations. No one size fits all answer here so check the MPPT manual is the best approach.

You didn't mention wire size. It is vital to not undersize the wires. Wire size calculators are easy to find online. For example, this one:

https://www.electricaltechnology.org/2014/04/electrical-wire-cable-size-calculator.html
Or this one:

https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Marine-Wire-Size-And-AmpacityI would size it for no more than 3% voltage drop.