A solar panel wiring diagram (also known as a solar panel schematic) is a technical sketch detailing what equipment you need for a solar system as well as how everything should connect together. There’s no such thing as a single correct diagram — several wiring configurations can produce the same result.
These Example System Diagrams will show how to connect the components of a solar energy system. A 2 KW, 4 KW, and 8 KW system are shown and include the solar panels, combiner boxes, charge controller (s), power inverter (s), battery bank, shunt & meter circuits, AC breaker panel, and AC generator wiring.
There are several ways to create your own solar panel wiring diagram — you can draw it out on paper, print out an existing diagram and mock it up with a pen to fit your liking, or design it from scratch digitally.
12V is the most common solar panel wiring connection with batteries, as most appliances are designed to operate on 12V. With a 12V system, parallel orientation is usually preferred for both panels and batteries. This is because increasing the amps allows for devices to be powered for much longer than they could be when wired in series.
Batteries for solar power systems are available in 2, 4, 6, and 12 volts, so any combination of voltage and power is possible. Try this yourself using the Battery Bank Designer with 4 easy point & click choices. See complete circuit diagrams of example Solar Energy Systems.
Solar panels and batteries can each be wired in one of two orientations: series or parallel. These orientations determine whether your devices’ amperage or voltage increases — an important consideration depending on what type of controller and batteries you’re using.