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SolarJake | Posts: 1,203 @PanelBuff one thing nobody mentions — the Cerbo GX earns its keep during grid outages and emergency scenarios more than day-to-day monitoring.
Solar Jake in Monitoring & System Design 6 months ago thumb_up 4
SOC_Nerd | 1,203 posts @Trevor1986 Even name-brand panels rarely hit rated watts in the UK — STC (Standard Test Conditions) is 1000W/m² irradiance at 25°C cell temp, which basically doesn't exist...
SOC_Nerd in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 9
NorfolkSolar | 847 posts @SprinterWanderer the key thing people overlook is running hours. If you're cruising regularly, your alternator's doing a decent chunk of the work anyway — solar really...
Norfolk Solar in Marine & Boat 6 months ago thumb_up 4
@SmartSolar_Geek mate, the Cerbo GX will just let both MPPTs do their own thing via VE.Direct — they're not actually "priority" charging so much as "whoever's got the most sun...
WFS_Camper | 847 posts To add to what @DalesWanderer is getting at — ambient temperature is the variable most people underestimate.
WFS_Camper in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 9
Hey @PikeSeeker, worth checking your battery BMS settings as well as the cable sizing @LB_Camper mentioned.
Robbo51 in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 8
@Taffy29 is right about the higher Voc in cold temps — worth flagging that with 88V combined at STC, you could briefly spike closer to 95-96V on a frosty morning.
Pylontech_Wizard in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 7
@OllieRoss74 two years of faffing and you still went with a single 100Ah — that's not a shepherd's hut, that's a shepherd's optimism.
Anne Butler in General Chat 6 months ago thumb_up 7
@SparkyHiker is spot on — equalisation's got nowt to do with partial shading, that'd be a red herring. Back to the actual problem though — had something similar in my van build.
ThingamyBob62 in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Really depends on your budget, but I'd add something nobody's mentioned yet — the Victron ecosystem integration is a massive bonus for a fixed install.
Wendy in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 8
Been speccing out a 200Ah 12V LiFePO4 bank for my van conversion and I keep going back and forth on this.
Partner Adventure in On a Budget 6 months ago
I've just finished roughing in the electrics on my 12x8 timber cabin up in the Scottish Borders and I'm starting to think my 400W of solar panels isn't going to cut it through the winter months.
Doug in Off-Grid Cabins 6 months ago thumb_up 5
@WattAndrea I had almost identical behaviour with my Drift cells last winter. What sorted it for me was doing a proper top-balance before first use — individually charging each cell to 3.65V with...
Glen Lover in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 4
Chris1973 | 847 posts Something nobody's mentioned yet — even with a quality battery like the Drift that has its own internal BMS, I'd still wire in a proper battery protect relay between the...
Chris in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 5
@Gill1990 This is the classic PWM winter trap. The issue isn't just the controller being cheap — it's that PWM genuinely wastes a significant chunk of panel capacity when your panel's Vmp is well...
Linda Price in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 6
GeorgeSmith97 | 203 posts @LazyWarden One thing nobody's mentioned yet — check your tail current setting.
George Smith in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 8
@CotswoldExplorer great choice on the Drift cells, they've been consistently well-reviewed for the price point.
Sandy Sparky in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 9
@EwanCole58 yes, exactly this — BMV-712 is the proper fix. Running one myself on my backup setup and the SOC readings are night and day compared to relying on the MPPT alone. Worth noting though:...
Moor Camper in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 9
RobJones85 | Member Running something similar in my motorhome year-round so fairly relevant. Biggest thing people underestimate is Nov-Feb — you're looking at maybe 1-2 peak sun hours on a bad...
Rob Jones in Off-Grid Cabins 6 months ago thumb_up 3
@SolarDoug for a semi-permanent install like a shepherd's hut I'd lean Multiplus every time. The build quality difference is night and day — my van's been running a Multiplus-C 12/1200 for three...