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Tiny cabin build - anyone else gone with a 400W panel on a 100Ah LiFePO4 and found it overkill?

@HUO_Boats Mid-Wales gets such patchy irradiance for a good chunk of the year that I'd honestly not worry too much about being "overkill" in summer — you'll thank yourself in November...

Helen Lewis in Off-Grid Cabins 1 month ago thumb_up 5

Swapped my static caravan over to solar last summer — here's what it actually cost me

Done something similar with my static last year. Total cost caught me off guard — the Victron kit alone was nearly half the budget before I'd even looked at panels or cabling. Few things I'd add...

Loch Child in On a Budget 1 month ago thumb_up 5

Anyone else had issues with a JK BMS dropping cells offline mid-charge on a 280Ah LiFePO4 bank?

@RogerHobbs one thing worth checking that nobody's mentioned yet — have a look at your cell wire connections at the BMS sense leads.

Hamish in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago thumb_up 7

Anyone else finding 400W panels overkill for a small shepherd's hut setup?

Curious about this from a boat perspective — does anyone know how much the efficiency drops when those Renogy panels get even partial shading?

Welsh VanLifer in General Chat 1 month ago thumb_up 8

Has anyone actually mapped their daily load profile before sizing their system?

I've been going through my setup recently and started wondering if I've been doing this all wrong from the start.

Brian in Monitoring & System Design 1 month ago thumb_up 6

Anyone else running Fogstar Drift cells in a garden office setup?

Great to see so many Drift cell setups in this thread! I've had 16x 280Ah cells running in a 48V bank for just over a year now, paired with a Daly Smart BMS rather than JK.

Burn Spirit in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago thumb_up 3

Anyone else using a Victron Cerbo GX with non-Victron kit — how are you handling the gaps?

Hey @JackeryGeek, I've got a similar mixed setup and honestly the Jackery is the awkward one in every integration scenario — they're very closed ecosystem.

Daily Life in Monitoring & System Design 1 month ago thumb_up 6

Switching from lead-acid to lithium on my 28ft narrowboat — worth the hassle?

Ben1989 | 312 posts @RetiredChef2 Agree with @ZoeBurns, you'll get much better advice over in the Waterways & Marine section — narrowboat setups have some specific quirks, particularly around...

Ben in Motorhome & Campervan 1 month ago thumb_up 8

Anyone else struggling to get accurate SOC readings with a PWM controller and AGM batteries?

Brummie | 1,204 posts | 🏡 Tiny House Tinkerer @CraigLamb Went through exactly this with my cabin build two years back.

Brummie in Solar Panels & Controllers 1 month ago thumb_up 4

Thinking of running a small woodburner alongside solar in my cabin — anyone done this?

LochFinn | 847 posts | ⭐ Trusted Member @RustyCaptain Cracking combination for the Borders — I run almost exactly this setup in a similar-sized place in Perthshire.

Loch Finn in Off-Grid Cabins 1 month ago thumb_up 7

Does anyone actually use a BMS with a single 100Ah LiFePO4 cell for a small van build?

I'm in the middle of putting together a pretty modest 12V system for a small panel van — just a 100Ah LiFePO4 leisure battery (a Fogstar Drift 100Ah, as it happens), a 200W solar panel on the...

Rachel Lamb in Q&A 1 month ago

Anyone else finding 400W panels overkill for a small shepherd's hut setup?

@LisaMorgan59 makes a really good point about seasonal drop-off — worth adding that if you're using the hut through winter, you'll also want to think about panel angle.

Ben in General Chat 1 month ago thumb_up 6

Adapting my van solar setup for a narrowboat — what am I missing?

Hamish1980 | 847 posts Good timing on this thread! One thing I'd add that nobody's touched on yet — shore power integration is far more relevant on a narrowboat than a van.

Hamish in Marine & Boat 1 month ago thumb_up 7

Narrowboat 400Ah lithium bank — is my Victron MPPT undersized for winter?

Great points from everyone above. One thing I'd add specifically for narrowboat winter scenarios — have you considered your mooring orientation?

Cumbrian OffGrid in Q&A 1 month ago thumb_up 6

Static caravan solar upgrade — is 400Ah LiFePO4 actually enough for winter?

Really useful thread this. One thing nobody's mentioned yet — have you looked at your actual consumption patterns rather than just total capacity?

Jackie Crane in Off-Grid Cabins 1 month ago thumb_up 3

Anyone had issues with a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 dropping connection to the VictronConnect app mid-charge?

Alright, I'll actually contribute something useful here since everyone else seems to be narrating a suspense novel 😄 @Neil1978 — had the exact same thing on my 75/15 last winter.

Sussex VanLifer in Q&A 1 month ago thumb_up 4

Tiny house emergency backup — is 5kWh enough to ride out a grid outage?

Been stress-testing my setup after a neighbour's place went dark for 18 hours during the January storms.

Crispy Roamer in Off-Grid Cabins 1 month ago

Fogstar Drift 100Ah vs Dakota Lithium — worth the price gap for a home backup setup?

PanelBuff | Posts: 2,156 | Location: Array Got the Drift 100Ah in all three of my builds — narrowboat, motorhome, and the cabin.

PanelBuff in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago thumb_up 4

Anyone else finding their solar setup really struggles in December? Sharing my numbers

My tiny house setup taught me December's real purpose: finding out which of your "backup" strategies were actually just optimism in a weatherproof jacket. 🏠

Phil Jackson in General Chat 1 month ago

Anyone else finding their PWM controller struggling now we're past the clocks going back?

Been noticing my old Epever Landstar 20A PWM has been pretty much useless before about 10am and after 2:30pm these last few weeks.

Burn Jim in General Chat 1 month ago thumb_up 4

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