Solar & Electrical Sources and References

Governs Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems installation, conductor sizing, continuous current safety margins (125% factor), rapid shutdown requirements, and DC overcurrent protection.

Governs Energy Storage Systems (ESS), battery room ventilation, disconnect accessibility, ampere interrupting capacity (AIC) fuse ratings, and battery management system (BMS) safety disconnects.

Provides authoritative DC resistance values (Ohms per 1,000 feet at 75°C) for uncoated multi-stranded copper wire, utilized in our cable gauge and voltage drop calculations.

Standards for AC & DC electrical systems on boats and recreation vehicles. Used for multi-stranded tinned copper wire sizing, continuous vibration resistance, and marine fuse ratings in our campervan guides.

The Photovoltaic Geographical Information System provides global satellite-derived solar irradiance datasets (including SARAH-2 and ERA5), hourly solar radiation profiles, and temperature-adjusted performance models.

NREL research publications defining PV array derate factors, temperature coefficient math ($\beta_{Voc}$ and $\gamma_{Pmax}$), soiling losses, and DC-to-AC conversion efficiency curves.

Open-access geocoding engine used to translate city names and postal addresses into precise latitude and longitude coordinates for local peak sun hour retrieval.

Consulted for MPPT voltage sweep algorithms, $V_{oc}$ cold safety margins (150V limits), peak surge output ratios (2x continuous), and idle standby power consumption figures.

Consulted for continuous discharge C-rates (typically 0.5C to 1C), depth of discharge (DoD 90% cycle curves), internal BMS low-temperature charging cutoff (0°C/32°F), and internal cell impedance.

Consulted for DC fuse ampere interrupting capacity (AIC) ratings, distinguishing standard automotive blade fuses (1,000A AIC) from marine/lithium Class-T fuses (20,000A AIC @ 160V DC).