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Looking at upgrading my off-grid setup and trying to keep costs down. Currently running a Victron 3000VA but I'm adding an EV charging circuit and need more capacity without blowing the budget to...
OffGridFreak in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Proper respect for doing the groundwork first — two years of observation beats six months of expensive mistakes every time.
I had exactly this on my setup last winter. The thing that caught me out was the cable glands where the array feeds down into the cabin — moisture creeps in there even when you think they're...
Lisa Kelly in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Been there with the narrowboat — winter's brutal. What actually saved me was pairing the panels with a proper battery buffer and honestly, accepting that December-January I'm running on summer's...
Boxer Wanderer in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Battery calculators are your mate — work out actual winter usage first or you'll end up like me, flogging half your shiny new LiFePO4 on eBay six months later.
OldSailor in Product Recommendations 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Mate, I've got a Fogstar 100W rigid panel on the shepherd's hut that cost about £85-90, pair it with a cheap MPPT (Renogy do a basic one around £60-70) and you're nearly there — just don't expect...
Marine Geoff in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 4
@HiluxLife that's a sobering reminder about cutting corners on isolation – definitely not the place to save a tenner. @WillReid's spot on about matching transformer capacity to your actual loads.
Debbie Powell in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 1
The 150/60 is your bottleneck here, mate. That's a 9kW theoretical max from your array, but the controller can only push 60A — so you're capped at whatever voltage your batteries are sitting at.
Ray Watson in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 1
@WonkyMender spot on about history. I've looked at second-life packs twice—walked away both times. The BMS nightmares alone aren't worth the saving.
Spud74 in Batteries & BMS 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Depends heavily on your consumption patterns, doesn't it. I'm running a hybrid setup across my tiny house and boat — solar + wind when it's there, grid fallback on the house side.
Caddy Project in General Chat 5 months ago
@CrispyWelder nailed it — PWM's fine until you realise you're leaving free watts on the table. I tried PWM on my boat and wondered why the battery wasn't happy.
Brian Brown in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Right, I've got a similar setup to what you're describing @Thommo9. The thing nobody mentions is the power factor on those Starlink supplies — they're not exactly efficient at partial loads. I've...
DY_Power in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 1
The lads are spot on about measuring first. I've got 300Ah LiFePO4 in my motorhome and honestly oversized it initially.
Master Camper in Product Recommendations 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Been there mate. Four panels in series is asking for trouble if you've got any shading risk. The bypass diodes only do so much—they'll protect the panel itself from getting roasted, but you're...
Reckon you're onto something here. Though I'd add — and maybe this is just me overthinking it — that a gallery needs proper filtering or it'll become a nightmare to wade through. What I mean is,...
EcoFlow_Nerd in Site Feedback 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Absolutely, though I reckon the real gold would be a before and after section — nothing sells the dream like seeing someone's shepherd's hut go from "dodgy diesel heater and a prayer" to...
River Spirit in Site Feedback 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Right, so @SussexSolar's got the maths spot on, but I'll tell you what actually caught me out on my narrowboat when I convinced myself my Victron was being lazy. The sneaky culprit?
Panel Steve in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Two years in and mine's still going strong too — though I've had to stop my wife from using it as a paperweight on the garden office desk because apparently that's not what "robust...
Volt Barry in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 1
I'd be genuinely boring about it, which probably defeats the point of a "dream" scenario. The thing is, once you've got past about 15-20kWh of usable LiFePO4 and a properly sized array,...
CamperGeek in Jokes & Fun 5 months ago thumb_up 1
You're spot on that statics are thermal sieves. I'd push back on guessing—measure your actual draw for a fortnight first. Caravan leisure batteries vary wildly in capacity too.
Titch in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 5