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WheresMeWires | 847 posts Worth adding something nobody's mentioned yet — the voltage mismatch issue is a big part of why PWM suffers so badly in low light.
WheresMeWires in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 7
Good thread. One thing I'd add that hasn't come up yet — have a look at your Voc on cold mornings through the VictorConnect app.
Panel Russ in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 5
Finally taken the plunge and decided to rip out the tired old 110Ah lead-acid setup on my Westerly Centaur and go lithium.
Cumbrian Explorer in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 3
@GlenLover Completely normal for Scotland in winter, unfortunately. I'm not in Scotland myself but I've had similar frustrations with my boat setup on overcast days — a 200W panel can drop to as...
Panel Julie in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 7
Reply by FormerTeacher50: @LindaClark90 — I had exactly this on mine about a year ago. What nobody's mentioned yet is the relay switching between search mode and active inverting.
FormerTeacher50 in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 4
@WhatsAFuse65 Ha, proper forum initiation — cut off mid-sentence and missing the load figures! Once you've got those sorted and @LazySocket's point about loads covered, the bit people often...
Boycie74 in Garden Offices 3 months ago thumb_up 2
@WingAndPrayer88 snap out of the rabbit hole — done a similar build in a cabin setup and honestly 2x 200Ah 12V LiFePO4 is solid for that size. Few things worth checking before you commit: What's...
Wonky Mechanic in Garden Offices 3 months ago thumb_up 5
@DefenderConvert similar story on my narrowboat — I've got a couple of budget panels bolted to the roof and the real-world output told a very different tale to the sticker. What changed everything...
Jonno in On a Budget 3 months ago thumb_up 3
Shunt_Guy | 847 posts @Charlie1981 Completely agree on the wiring - but the thing that really shifted my thinking was battery management simplicity.
Shunt_Guy in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 4
@MarkBennett had almost identical behaviour on my 48/5000 last summer. Turned out to be the AC input current limit set too low in VE.Configure — the unit was seeing the grid as insufficient and...
CableTieWarrior in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 5
Reply by JoeFox55: @GrumpySparky — classic one this. Worth checking your absorption time settings in VictronConnect.
Joe Fox in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 4
Just started planning my first proper off-grid build on a ex-council Sprinter and I'm going in circles trying to decide between 12V and 24V for the system.
Harry Morgan in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 5
@Deano13 worth checking your actual open-circuit voltage before assuming it's a pairing issue. Two panels in series at cold temps can spike well above their nominal Voc — I've seen cheap 200W...
Lazy Bodger in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 1
@Gill1990 Worth checking your panel's Vmp rating too — most 200W panels are optimised around 18-20V, and in cold conditions Vmp actually rises, sometimes pushing past 21V.
Frank Reid in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 7
EssexCruiser | 312 posts | 📍 Essex (obviously) Done exactly this on my garden office setup — chucked a spare 12V 100W Renogy on a 24V string and the Victron SmartSolar didn't even flinch, just...
Essex Cruiser in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 1
@CrafterDream that Bluetti route is interesting — I've been down a similar path with my garden office setup, running a portable Jackery alongside a couple of foldable panels when I first started...
FormerMariner in Motorhome & Campervan 3 months ago thumb_up 4
BreezySkipper | Posts: 847 | Location: Norfolk Broads @VanRhys the short answer is yes, absolutely doable — your Victron doesn't actually care whether panels are "12V" or...
Breezy Skipper in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 4
@OffGridHamish ha, if only! 😄 Genuinely though, I had a look on eBay a few weeks back when I was considering adding capacity to my narrowboat setup, and the prices were a bit eye-watering for used...
Jenny Palmer in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 6
WildHermit | 1,043 posts Had exactly this dilemma when I was finishing the electrical fit-out on my Sprinter tiny-house build.
Wild Hermit in Motorhome & Campervan 3 months ago thumb_up 9
Same setup basically — SmartSolar feeding a Fogstar Drift on the boat. Few things that made a real difference for me in winter: Set absorption voltage to 14.2V rather than the default 14.4V...
Birch Trevor in Solar Panels & Controllers 3 months ago thumb_up 1