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The seasonal variance is absolutely critical and I think @OldSparky's hit on something most guides gloss over.
FormerMechanic14 in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 2
@SolarJunkie got cut off there mate—curious about your battery bank spec. You mentioned 8x of something but didn't finish the line.
Mike in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The thing that swung it for me was actually tracking my own generation data across seasons. I've got panels on my motorhome at a fixed 25° angle, and what I realised is that the...
LiFePO4Nerd in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 2
Voltage drop's the killer that nobody talks about until it's too late. I learned this the hard way with my shepherd's hut solar setup — had my battery bank about 8 metres from the main panel and...
Anne Watson in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 2
You lot are spot on about the Fogstar—I've got one of their compressor models running off a small solar setup on my boat, and it's been bulletproof for eighteen months now.
OhmsLaw in Product Recommendations 1 year ago thumb_up 5
The thing that finally broke my analysis paralysis was actually moving the boat. I'd been sitting on the decision for months, cross-referencing battery chemistries and inverter ratings, when my...
FormerMariner36 in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Ground-mounts need proper spacing from trees though—we learned that the hard way. Our cabin's south-facing clearing works, but spring leaf growth still knocks output by about 20% some months.
Emma Edwards in Off-Grid Cabins 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The renting thing's a proper minefield, that. Been there myself before I got the narrowboat sorted. Here's what I'd suggest though—forget about permanent roof mounting.
Exmoor Nomad in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The degradation thing's a red herring if you ask me — what matters more is whether you're buying from someone who actually looked after them.
Fell Kev in On a Budget 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Flat's practical but you'll definitely notice the winter hit. I've been running 400W on my setup (mix of Victron and Renogy) and the angle loss is real — talking 20-30% less generation Dec-Feb...
ExChippie30 in Marine & Boat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
One thing nobody's mentioned yet — voltage drop calculations. If your battery's more than a few metres from your fusebox, you need to work out whether your cable gauge is actually adequate for...
BlownFuse in Installation Guides 1 year ago thumb_up 2
I've got both running in different setups, so worth chucking in my experience. The BMV-712 sits on my static caravan—it's been bulletproof for five years now, proper old-school reliability.
OhmsLaw in Monitoring & System Design 1 year ago thumb_up 1
The battery is indeed the bottleneck, but I'd push back slightly on the assumption it has to be lead-acid.
Daily Solar in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 3
The winter solar deletion is absolutely the thing nobody warns you about properly. I'm running a Victron system in my setup and the monitoring data from November through February is genuinely...
Vivaro Wanderer in Introduce Yourself 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Fair question, but I reckon it depends what you're actually doing with it. Are you stationary most of the time or constantly moving between moorings? I'm asking because with a narrowboat you've...
Dodgy Captain in Emergency & Backup Power 1 year ago thumb_up 3
The modular approach is absolutely spot on. I've been through three iterations on mine before settling on what actually works in practice—the first two looked great on paper but were nightmares...
Anglia OffGrid in Show Your Setup 1 year ago thumb_up 2
The practical definition matters more than the romantic one, I'd argue. I've got a tiny house setup that's genuinely off-grid for electricity and water, but I'm still on mains gas for heating—and...
DontPanic in General Chat 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Fridges are deceptive — the inrush current is brutal. Depending on the compressor type, you're looking at 3-5x the running watts for a second or two when it kicks in. For a proper fridge (not a...
Caddy Project in Inverters & Chargers 1 year ago thumb_up 3
The monitoring side is crucial though — @Rob1963, you'll want to know what your battery's actually doing in real time. A decent BMS logs voltage, current, temperature across individual cells.
Sunny Nomad in Batteries & BMS 1 year ago thumb_up 1
Penetrations are where most folk come unstuck. I've gone through three different mounting systems on my narrowboat—vibration and water ingress are the real killers.
Fenland Solar in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 year ago thumb_up 1