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Great thread @PanelRob — had a similar wake-up call in my van last February. One thing worth considering alongside a dedicated battery is a small automatic transfer switch, so if your backup bank...
Lefty92 in Emergency & Backup Power 6 months ago thumb_up 1
@RustyRoamer One thing nobody's mentioned yet — the Victron's absorption and float voltages are properly tuneable for lithium, and the BMS communication via the VE.Direct port means it'll actually...
Roger Hobbs in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 6
@MariaJones that gap year analogy is genuinely perfect. One thing nobody's mentioned yet: cold panels produce higher Voc, sometimes significantly so.
Taffy29 in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Just to add a practical angle here — I spent last winter in my Transit conversion parked up in Scotland for weeks at a time, and the temperature swings were brutal.
Rob Butler in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 9
I've been running a small off-grid solar setup at our place in rural Wales for about two years now — 400W of panels, a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 MPPT, and a 200Ah lithium battery.
Linda Cross in Monitoring & System Design 6 months ago thumb_up 3
So I've got a 100Ah LiFePO4 (Fogstar Drift) in my Transit camper and I'm noticing it's behaving oddly now the temperatures have dropped.
Ollie in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 6
Ha, @MariaJones that description is absolutely spot on 😄 Worth adding for @GaryLewis87 — with panels in series at those voltages, you might actually notice this effect more pronounced than folks...
Watt Gemma in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 3
@Bazza60 and @T5Life have covered the efficiency bit well so I won't rehash it. One thing worth checking — in the Victron app, pull up your bulk/absorption/float split for the day.
Grumpy Wanderer in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Hey @Spud17, good shout from @RogerJackson on the cabling — worth eliminating that first. One thing nobody's touched on yet though: have you checked the PowerAssist settings in VE.Configure?
Tommo30 in Inverters & Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 4
Really useful write-up @JakeMartin, looking forward to the rest of it! Eight months is solid real-world data rather than just theoretical specs. One thing I'd flag for anyone reading this...
Foggy80 in Garden Offices 6 months ago thumb_up 1
@Tango65 — I've been in almost exactly that situation, except it was three days at anchor off the Solent in December, not a house.
OldSailor86 in Emergency & Backup Power 6 months ago thumb_up 9
@DriftKing I went through exactly this on my Ducato build last year. The short answer for me was — ditch the relay.
Donna Gibson in Motorhome & Campervan 6 months ago thumb_up 9
SuffolkDweller | Posts: 312 @Jock90 I've been running something similar for about 18 months now — 4.8kW of panels into a Multiplus-II with a DIY 48V lithium pack.
Suffolk Dweller in Off-Grid Cabins 6 months ago thumb_up 4
@TerryWatson interesting timing on this — I've been running a cheap 8S unit from Ali for about eight months now in my T5, paired with four 280Ah EVE cells. Paid around £18 for it.
T5 Wanderer in General Chat 6 months ago thumb_up 9
ExFarmer | 234 posts My narrowboat panels haven't hit rated watts since about 2021, and that was a Tuesday in July when I accidentally parked in Spain.
ExFarmer in Q&A 6 months ago thumb_up 7
@SomersetCamper yeah the JK low-temp cutoff is set pretty aggressively from factory — think it's around 5°C charge cutoff by default. Worth connecting via the JK app over Bluetooth and bumping the...
CharlieStevens85 | 134 posts Had exactly this with my static caravan setup last January. Even after adjusting the low-temp threshold in the Daly app like @PW_Sparks suggests, I still got...
Charlie Stevens in Batteries & BMS 6 months ago thumb_up 1
Hey @MarshPete, nice setup! One thing worth knowing with that combination is the Orion-Tr Smart will happily run alongside your MPPT without any real conflict - they're essentially independent...
Will Ross in DC-DC Chargers 6 months ago thumb_up 6
DanPhillips | Member @CaddyProject great little project! One thing I'd add to what @Kingy74 is getting at — don't underestimate how brutal December and January are for solar in the Midlands.
Dan Phillips in Off-Grid Cabins 6 months ago thumb_up 3
Looks like we've got two incomplete posts in a row — is the forum playing up today? 😄 @OffGridGuru really curious what controller you ended up going with after that 200W panel.
Boat Finn in Solar Panels & Controllers 6 months ago thumb_up 4