Solar Panel extension cable... help me not blow this up

[Jas]

I'm trying to extend my solar panel and need a couple of MC4 cables to do it.

The cord running from the panel to the charge controller reads "14 AWG," but the closest I can find online for extension cables is 12AWG.

(My charge controller's specs: 10A Current + 12/24v Voltage)

I doubt I'd do any damage throwing a couple 12AWG cords into the mix (20 or 30 feet most likely), but am I going to significantly hamper how much juice flows from my panel to charge controller in doing so?

[TT120]

You can always go with a thicker (smaller gauge) wire. It's going to a thinner (larger gauge) wire that can cause issues.

Going from 14 gauge to 12 gauge will be fine.

[Token]

Yep, 12 will be fine for your solar panel.

Btw, that’s the spec we needed, not the controller.

Your panel specs from your other post lists 6A max. That is for short circuit current so in real life it’s closer to 3A.

For 30’ it’s will be no problem.

12Ga is rated for 9A and has resistance of 1.5 ohm per 1000 feet.

You will be fine.

[Jas]

beautiful. thanks guys.

[Drizzt321]

Yup, thing to remember is the lower the gauge number, the larger the wire. Larger will generally always work as well or better than the minimum needed. Especially for basic power usage. Some digital or specialized applications this may or may not always be the case, I'm not an expert on that.