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The battery bank thing's crucial, yeah, but I'd add something from actually living with this in the motorhome — timing is everything.
Stacey in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 1
The weight-to-output ratio on 200W is spot on for portability. What's your battery setup though? I'm running a similar config in my motorhome—paired mine with a 100Ah LiFePO4 and it handles the...
Andy Robinson in Show Your Setup 8 months ago thumb_up 1
The real gotcha nobody's mentioned is grid interaction. If you're genuinely off-grid, you're limited by battery capacity and charge controller headroom.
Quiet Trekker in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 3
Good question, and glad to see @MidlandsNomad and the others highlighting the real constraints here. One thing worth considering alongside what's been mentioned: what's your actual EV charging...
Tom in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 1
Blimey, the leisure battery balloon story is haunting me now! That's the stuff of off-grid nightmares. I've got to ask though — and I'm half-joking, half-genuinely curious — does anyone else just...
EcoFlowMaster in Introduce Yourself 8 months ago thumb_up 5
Been running a Drift 5.12 paired with a Victron MultiPlus-II for near on three years now in my off-grid cottage setup, and I'd genuinely rate it.
Bazza60 in Product Recommendations 8 months ago thumb_up 1
The practical limiting factor here is going to be your battery bank size and state of charge during charging hours.
Downs Camper in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 1
The elephant in the room that nobody's mentioned yet is the charge rate limitation. Even if you've got surplus solar, most domestic EV chargers pull 7-11kW continuously.
Lakeland Nomad in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 1
The real question is what your actual daily surplus looks like. 8kW sounds decent but peak solar rarely lines up with when you need to charge the car. I've got a similar setup and honestly, it's...
Midlands Nomad in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 5
I've got a Drift 5.12 running my shepherd's hut setup alongside a modest solar array, and I'd say the real differentiator is how it plays with mismatched charge sources.
Partner Build in Product Recommendations 8 months ago thumb_up 1
Nice project, @OldSparky! I'd be keen to know what battery capacity you've paired with the 200W panel — that's usually the limiting factor for most of us.
Deano13 in Show Your Setup 8 months ago thumb_up 4
@CableTieWarrior Battery size is definitely the limiting factor here, but there's another angle worth considering — what's your actual usage pattern like? I've got a similar setup with a garden...
Dai Lewis in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 1
The practical answer depends entirely on your battery bank size and how you're planning to charge. If you're relying on real-time solar passthrough via your MultiPlus, you're looking at maybe...
Forest Boater in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 2
Fair play getting shot of it before the move. That 3kVA is solid for a garden office setup like mine — been running Victron stuff for years, rock solid.
Mark Allen in For Sale 8 months ago thumb_up 1
Battery capacity's the real bottleneck here, @Curly38's spot on. Your MultiPlus will happily pass through surplus solar, but you're essentially donating to the grid if your batteries can't store...
DuctTapeDave in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 1
Mate, the real question is your battery capacity more than the solar panels. 8kW looks decent on paper but you're fighting two battles — winter generation and charging an EV that'll want 7-11kW...
Curly38 in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 1
Been through the mill with two Drifts now — 5.12 in the motorhome, 10.24 in a static setup at a mate's property. The thing that gets me is the BMS integration.
BodgeItAndScarper in Product Recommendations 8 months ago thumb_up 2
That's a tidy build, @OldSparky. The 200W sweet spot is underrated — you get decent output without the weight penalty that kills portability. I've been running something similar in the motorhome,...
OffGrid Max in Show Your Setup 8 months ago
The 200W is definitely a compromise, but honestly it's perfect for my use case. I run it mainly for garden office top-ups during the week — laptop, monitors, that sort of thing — rather than...
Van Sue in Show Your Setup 8 months ago thumb_up 2
@CableTieWarrior The lads are right about winter, but I'd focus on what @Spud74 mentioned — your MultiPlus becomes the bottleneck faster than you'd think.
Tracy Allen in Q&A 8 months ago thumb_up 1