Solar Connectors Opinions

[Pappion]

Good Input Mark.



Caveat:

Powerpole could be silver plated or tin plated. If the vendor does not state the plating used, expect the cheaper tin.


Most Automotive or Solar connectors stay connected and have some level of environment sealing.

[BayouBoy]

Originally Posted by Mark_K5LXP

In a past life I spec'd connectors for products in commercial, automotive and rail environments. Plating is part of it but there are other environmental and operational factors.

Consider the connectors you find under the hood of a car. I doubt you'll find many that are gold plated. This is a pretty extreme environment yet despite they're the absolute cheapest connector that meets the spec, you rarely encounter a connector related failure. So my take on it would be what problem are you trying to solve. In my solar power experience, contact resistance, cycle life and shock/vibration probably aren't as important as environmental - moisture and temp cycling. If a gold plated unit ends up solving the problem and you don't have a project manager to telling you it's too expensive, then fine. But millions and millions of powerpole installations (including some automotive) can't be wrong, and they're but lowly silver plated. Additionally, solar isn't exactly a new idea and no doubt there are a number of connector solutions widely accepted through the industry. I'd be looking at that to see what solutions already exist before reinventing that wheel.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

Agreed. This seems to be looking for a problem where there is none. The potential loss of a tenth of an amp of charging from a portable setup due to using a common connector is not something that I would spend any time at all looking to fix.

[harryn]

I know that it is a sacrilege to criticize an anderson power pole, but I do have 2 reasons that I am not happy with them:
- They aren't rated to cover the automotive temperature range - not even close
- The chemical resistant version is much better (especially on the low end) but the standard version appears to be designed for shirt sleeve weather.

- At least the ones that I have found for round hole panel use (powerex) definitely are the shirt sleeve weather plastic.

For now I am staying with the SAE connector for modest voltage panel setups.