Hybrid system electrical connections

[Mr Pocky]

I am working on plans to upgrade my current system.  This will involve multiple charging systems (wind and solar) all linking to one industrial forklift battery.  One issue I want to avoid is connection multiple charge controllers to the battery.  It's just a lot of wires and when maintenance needs done there is a lot of hooking and unhooking.

My idea is to connect the charge controllers to large pieces of copper plate, then connect each positive and negative plate to the battery.  This allows room for expansion of the system by adding to each plate and leaves me connecting two charging wires and two output wires only.

I'm sure a setup like this has been done by others and I'm in need of details on wire thickness, plate thickness and positioning, safety concerns, etc.  I'm sre there is a name for such an arrangement, but I simply don't know what it is called and can't search it out.  Googling 'electrical doohickey' wasn't very helpful.

Mark

[wphfla]

They are called bus bars.

Kevin

[Mr Pocky]

Thank you Kevin.  That's the term I needed.  I just unleashed the search with that in tow and the info is pouring in.  Thanks again.

[Phil Timmons]

A caution on your bus bar design -- depending on how you lay them out -- if there are any portions that are horizontal, and they running side by side -- that is very common, you should put some effort to insulate or protect the top side of them.  

Wrenches, screwdrivers, pieces of wire, or any piece of metal can "short" them.  

Exposed bus bars are very unforgiving of a piece of metal or a tool dropped across them.  Pretty much an instant dead short and usually something will go boom.