battery temperature & distance questions

Hi James J.  I live in minnesota, just a bit north of where you are located, and the winters are cold here also.  I have my battery bank located in an unheated garage, and did not bother to insulate them.  Considering the battery capacity losses in cold temperatures, I simply installed twice as many batteries as required to satisfy system requirements.  The inverters have a temperature compensation device that mounts on the side of the battery bank, so they will adjust charge current according to the increase in battery voltage when colder.  This may not be the ideal solution, but there is another factor involved.........battery life maybe be extended when they are kept cooler, so this may be an advantage. I have not experienced any problems with this arrangement so far.  With regard to AC wire size, you may find this link informative. http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm  Best of luck to you.  Jon C.

Hi again, James J.  The batteries set against a north wall in the garage and are covered by a homemade fiberglass shell, that allows free ventilation to the rear wall.  They are plain lead acid deep cycle 6v batteries with hydrate caps. There is no danger of freezing, but then, I never allow them to run down all the way..........the inverters cut in automatically at low battery transfer level and charge them from the utility.  There is a picture of the battery cover on my album.  There is no battery box per se....they just set on a concrete slab with a 2" air gap between batteries. The location was chosen for close proximity to the fuse boxes and panels for the existing wiring, so that the wire runs would be as short as possible to minimize losses. I have learned to oversize my system by a factor of two....... twice the anticipated power consumption to compensate for cloudy periods with little wind. I appreciate your inquiry and am happy to answer any questions that you might have about my installation. :-)  Best wishes for your green power design.  Jon C.