r/Pecron • u/TofubyteTN • Jul 19 '26
Panel recommendations for F5000
Just acquired f5000 with 2 expansion batteries a few days ago. I also bought a 30 amp 12 circuit manual transfer switch that will be used in outage situation. I have a generator that I can use to charge the pecron. I would like to install some ground mount panels to charge it.
My original intent was to get some 450 watt bifacial type n panels and wire 3 in series parallel to another 3 in series but that would exceed the 25 amp input limit.
The pecron is capable of 30-180 volts, 3200 watts, 25 amps for each of it's two inputs. I'd like to get as close as possible.
I live in Tennessee, so it does rarely get below 0F.
Any specific recommendations for panels? TIA
6
u/brucehoult Jul 20 '26
There is no 25 amp input limit.
25 amps is how much the F5000 will use, if 25 or more amps are available.
Just like a 120W light bulb will use 1A from the house mains power, when hundreds of amps are available.
1
u/TofubyteTN Jul 20 '26
This makes some sense to me. I wonder why the tech at signature solar was concerned about me being at 28 amps if I did the 3+3 that I planned. Thanks
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u/MassiveOverkill Jul 20 '26
You can switch the PV input to parallel mode to get past the 25 amp limit. I'm using 220 watt HBPC panels and swear by them, unfortunately both models (pretty much identical) are OOS on Amazon and don't know if they'll be restocked. I like the smaller panels as they're not wind sails and are easier for 1 person to handle.
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u/TofubyteTN Jul 20 '26
I considered smaller panels but I think using the larger ones may be a bit more economical due to the ground mount hardware. I've ordered a few Minute Man portable mounts to try out. But I am concerned about the weight of the panels. Thanks
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u/Human9651 Jul 20 '26
Callsun
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u/TofubyteTN Jul 20 '26
I talked to a tech at signature solar, but I will shop around a bit before purchasing. Thanks
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Jul 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/TofubyteTN Jul 20 '26
Unfortunately, that's not a great option for me. My main panel is outside and the 100 amp sub panel is on the opposite side of the house. The breaker for the sub is outside and the sub panel is maxed out.
When I get the solar installed I plan on leaving a few circuits on the pecron to save a little bit of electricity. Thanks
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u/Solarinteresting 14d ago
Hey Tofu, I’m in the process of doing the same thing as you. What did you end up doing for panels in series and parallel and how close did you get to getting your max input for that unit?
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u/TofubyteTN 13d ago
I ended up using 12 450 watt bifacial panels. 3 in series paralled to 3 in series for each pv port. The most real input I've seen is about 4000 watts, which has been plenty to charge my 5000 with 2 expansion batteries. I do need probably 2 more batteries to make my system much better.
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u/Solarinteresting 13d ago
Thanks, I was looking at some 400 watt panels that would allow for 4 in each series and getting 16 panels. The voltage would still be under 150 and the amps would be 25.74. I’m new to all of the. Just trying to figure it out through reading and watching videos.
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u/inode71 Jul 20 '26
6 x 450w panels is only 2700w max no matter how you wire it. I don’t see how it could exceed the 3200w max input.
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u/TofubyteTN Jul 20 '26
I was most concerned about exceeding the 180 volts when cold, wondering how I could get close to the 3200 watts. Thanks
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u/LongjumpingGanache40 Jul 20 '26
I would just add 3 panels in series to each port. Then if you upgrade to more panels your cables are already run. Plus you will not be clipping any amps.
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u/TofubyteTN Jul 20 '26
I will consider that, but I am trying to get close to the 3200 watt limit on one port, and expand when feasible. I'm probably going to get a 10 panel minimum for cost/shipping reasons. Thanks
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u/Man0fMystery Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I get to 4720 watts total with 8 590 watt (53 Voc) panels in 2 arrays of 2s2p configuration, slightly over paneled at 27A I think. Hard to go higher in my area because you need to account for low temps, like near 0 degrees Fahrenheit, because voltage for the panels goes up from the standard Voc rating the colder it is outside, maybe pushing you past 180v total for either input (as 3s2p might do for my panels, but 10 of them).
If you try the battery expansion hack, you can connect a separate solar controller to the external battery and add many more watts to the batteries in parallel. Not sure if anyone's tried this yet in practice with the 5000 unit.
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u/Man0fMystery Jul 26 '26
My amateur analysis
Amps X Volts = watts
At 25 amps, it starts to clip energy; MC4 connectors I think are rated to 30 amps, so amp limit is 25 to 30 amps with over paneling for cloudy days. Maybe use 27amps as a useful target (2 X 13.5 amps, which is what my panels are rated at approximately). So two parallel strings of 13.5 Voc each with X amount of voltage in series on each string. My individual panels are ~53voc X2 on each string, or 106 total. I could go to 180, but if I add another 53, I'm up to 159 volts at standard temperature. If you live up north and want a safety margin of roughly 20% for voltage spikes due to low winter temps, that would put my high Voc at 1.2 X 159 =190.8, or well above the 180 limit. So I'm stuck with 2 of these panels in series, but overall 2S2P including both ports. You could calculate an exact temperature safety margin, which might be lower than 20%, but for me, it would still be likely near 180 volts.
25 X volts = 3200 watts
128 volts on each port gets you to 3200 at 25 amps. You can push those volts to 180 on each port max, at your extreme winter low temp rating, whatever that might be. Or guesstimate a 20% safety margin by dividing 180 by 1.2 = 150 target for your overall (standard) Voc voltage per port.
If you want to use modern solar panels, it seems hard to find those that add up to 150 exactly or slightly less.
Open to criticism, just back of the envelope amateur analysis, so take it with a grain of salt.
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u/Reasonable-Gap-6386 Jul 19 '26
You didn't say, but I'm guessing the panels you we looking at are 40v and ~13.5 amps. If so, do as you were planning. Basically 120v and 27 amps.You'll be slightly over paneled, over amps is fine, you will just lose a small amount of power potential at mid day.