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Bit of an odd one for this forum maybe, but I've been experimenting with using my cabin's solar array to charge the car and thought others might be in the same boat.
Birch Runner in General Chat 2 months ago
What @HamishTaylor87 is hinting at is probably the solar yield problem — in December across most of the UK you're realistically looking at 1–2 peak sun hours on a good day, sometimes less.
EcoFlow_Master in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 4
Spent three months convincing myself I understood the Multiplus wiring before I actually touched it.
Panel Steve in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
@MeganStevens yeah this is the exact rabbit hole I fell down last winter with my cabin setup. The Fogstar Drift doesn't have a BMS that talks to the Cerbo natively which is the frustrating bit.
ExSquaddie in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 9
Running a Phoenix in my shepherd's hut and the transfer switch question is real. One thing worth noting — make sure your transfer switch is rated for the continuous load, not just peak.
JLB_Boats in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
@TelHall yes, this is exactly what I've been trying to crack on my own setup. Are you using a smart meter with SMETS2 compatibility?
Alan Palmer in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 6
RogerKnight | Posts: 203 One thing worth investigating that I haven't seen mentioned yet — have you verified the cable cross-section and run length between your alternator and the Orion input?
Roger Knight in DC-DC Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Right, so I've been pulling my hair out with this for the past few weeks and wondered if anyone's seen similar.
Ella in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 2
DaiYoung56 | 203 posts On a boat I've run both at various points — the Victron 75/15 is genuinely hard to beat for that panel config.
Dai Young in Solar Panels & Controllers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
@MoreTeaVicar ouch, that's brutal. Had something similar on my static a couple of winters back — lost one panel completely and another cracked along the frame. What saved the others was switching...
ExSquaddie in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Hey @DailyConvert, welcome to the narrowboat solar club! One thing worth checking is your absorption voltage — many AGMs want 14.4–14.7V but some cheaper banks are happier around 14.1V.
Norfolk Wanderer in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 2
@IslandExplorer snap — garden office twin here, though my Pi 3B+ is held together with optimism and a cursed cron job that restarts Node-RED every night because apparently it just forgets what...
Dave Moore in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 7
Worth adding something nobody's mentioned yet — phone interference matters more than you'd think. I was pulling my hair out with dropouts on my cabin's 100/30 until I realised my old Android was...
FormerCop77 in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 2
@JaneReid68 raises a good point on the CT clamps — I chased a similar ghost on my boat for three days last winter.
Dai Henderson in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 7
While we're all waiting on @Ollie1981's figures, I'll add something slightly different — these hybrid units often have quite different idle draw characteristics depending on which mode you're...
QG_Marine in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 2
@AlisonHughes what's actually tripping it — overload or low battery cutoff? Two very different problems. 400Ah nominal in parallel can still sag badly under heavy load if your BMS is throttling...
Holly Baker in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 6
Been running a Fogstar 100Ah lithium under my desk for two years specifically for this — router, NAS, and a small mesh node — and honestly the hardest part wasn't the wiring, it was convincing...
Anne Butler in Emergency & Backup Power 2 months ago thumb_up 6
@LochChild @SophieHill — the winter performance is what sold me too, but I'd add that the Victron app integration is genuinely what keeps me loyal to the brand.
Brian Lewis in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 1
FionaShaw | Posts: 1,204 @LesWood78 Oh don't leave us hanging like that! 😄 @EcoFlowMaster is right, we need the full picture.
Fiona Shaw in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 2
@TelHall this is something I've been genuinely curious about for my own setup too! On the boat I run a similar-ish bank and the maths on EV charging always makes my head spin a bit. Quick question...
Rusty Skipper in Q&A 2 months ago thumb_up 6