The thing that's not being mentioned enough: what's your battery size and what state is it in when you want to charge?
I've got a modest setup on my boat — 4kW solar, 10kWh LiFePO4 — and I learned...
in Q&A
1 week ago
thumb_up 3
Been considering bifacials for my boat setup, so this thread's brilliant timing. @CamperCarl's water tank idea is clever — though I'm wondering how much the reflectivity actually degrades once the...
Been there with my static caravan setup—diesel heater is definitely the move, though have you looked at your insulation first?
I've done something similar on the boat, though mine was more about hubris than ignorance. Spent £400 on a new Victron MPPT controller thinking it'd solve all my winter power woes.
Been weighing this myself for the static caravan setup. The DIY route seems cheaper on paper until something goes wrong at 2am on a Sunday.
Winter's been a real wake-up call for me on the boat. I've got about 2.5kW of panels spread across the roof, but come December the output drops to something laughable — sometimes less than 500W...
Ah mate, the classic incomplete post! But I've got to ask — what's your battery capacity and how are you managing loads in a 12m² space?
Curious about your battery setup — did you stretch to LiFePO4 or gone traditional lead? At £500 total I'm wondering where the compromises are sitting.
I'm looking at something similar for my...
Brilliant thread this. @SolarJunkie, I'm curious about your battery management strategy—are you running separate circuits for engine start versus house bank, or have you consolidated?
Yeah, I've been uploading build photos to mine too — static caravan setup. One thing @LesWood78 mentions about file size is proper important.
Been running a pair of Fogstar Drift 5.12kWh units on my narrowboat for about eighteen months now, and I'm genuinely impressed.
@SunnyFisher that's the bit nobody really talks about, isn't it?
On my boat I've gone with a dedicated junction box mounted on the cabin roof — the panels sit in a fixed position most of the time,...
Spot on about the history, @EwanCole58. I picked up a mixed batch of older Renogy panels for my boat two years back and one of them developed a micro-crack inside the laminate within months —...
Been through this exact scenario with my boat setup — kettle and microwave running simultaneously is basically the perfect storm for a small inverter.
The inrush thing @MarinePhil and @Wez1961...
Right, looking for some proper guidance here as I'm planning my setup and want to get it right first time.
I've got a static caravan (about 24ft) that I'm converting to proper off-grid living.
