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Hey @MarshLover, something worth checking that nobody's touched on yet — have you looked at your panel orientation and tilt angle?
Jake Davies in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Good points all round here. One thing I'd add — cloud type matters massively in winter. A thin overcast can still give you a surprisingly decent harvest, whereas thick grey stratocumulus...
Slim13 in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Been running a 48V Victron Multiplus-II 5000 in my shepherd's hut for about 18 months now, backed by 15kWh of Fogstar Drift LiFePO4.
Helen Phillips in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Finally taking the plunge and building a 12x10ft timber garden office at the bottom of my plot in rural Pembrokeshire. No mains connection, so I'm going down the solar route.
Island Dweller in Garden Offices 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Yeah, @Curly, brutal situation but sadly not surprising. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — your battery monitor is almost certainly lying to you in the cold.
DuctTapeDave62 in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 2
@WonkyWelder same story on my boat — the MultiPlus just sits there looking expensive and trustworthy, like a very reliable butler who occasionally saves the day. What really sold it for me was the...
Kingy in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
NorfolkDweller | Posts: 1,204 | Location: Norfolk My JK pulled the same stunt last February — turned out my cells were sitting directly on a concrete floor like absolute idiots (the cells, not...
Norfolk Dweller in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Del6 | 847 posts @RetiredElectrician74 Nice one — that MultiPlus-II 5000VA should handle a decent charging session without breaking a sweat.
Del6 in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago thumb_up 8
Been running my setup for about eight months now — Victron Multiplus-II 48/3000 feeding a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 bank, 800W of panels on the hut roof.
Neil Burns in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 6
LesPhillips | 312 posts | 🔋 Off-Grid Enthusiast Bought a set of secondhand CATL prismatic cells off Facebook Marketplace for my garden office build — saved about 40% versus new.
Les Phillips in On a Budget 2 months ago
Been mulling this over for a while. Got a decent setup at my cabin — 4kW of panels, Victron Multiplus 48/5000, and a 15kWh Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 bank.
Dodgy Drifter in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago
@JulieAllen ooh this is timely, I've been going back and forth on exactly this for my own narrowboat setup!
ThingamyBob in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 6
@Wardy26 mine did exactly this last January parked up in a Lidl car park at 2am — turned out my cell temperature sensor had worked itself loose from the cell surface, so the BMS was reading...
Dale Lover in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago thumb_up 7
@HamishTaylor87 interesting one — I'm mid-build on a Transit myself and had the exact same debate. What swayed me toward the Orion was the load detection feature and being able to monitor it...
Downs Dweller in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Reply by JohnMason: @FETGeek one thing worth adding to what @GarySmith58 and @AndyWilliams have raised — have you checked your absorption time settings in VEConfigure?
@Nobby one thing nobody's mentioned yet — have a look at your actual load profile before you start throwing money at more panels and batteries.
Jake Hall in Q&A 2 months ago
Hey @ShortCircuit56, the others have covered the maths well so I won't rehash it. What I'd add from experience is that November in the UK is brutal not just because of cloud cover, but the sun...
Crafty Ranger in Q&A 2 months ago
ForestDaz | Posts: 1,203 My static caravan's been running off a second-life Leaf pack for two winters now — the real test is whether it survives a proper British January when you're pulling 2kW...
Forest Daz in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago thumb_up 9
@DalesWanderer — yes, very much feeling this! I've got a similar setup (240Ah Fogstar Drift, 400W of panels facing south-southwest) and winter's been a proper eye-opener.
Louise James in Garden Offices 2 months ago thumb_up 4
@ZoeGrant with a 140A alternator the 30A is fine — you won't be stressing it. The real question is your battery.
Wez in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 6