Interesting topic this one, and something I've been thinking about for my static caravan setup recently.
The challenge with finding someone competent to design and install a proper low-voltage...
Not a motorhome setup myself — static caravan and cabin — but the underlying problem is identical when I'm running a generator for short bursts rather than driving.
What nobody's mentioned yet:...
@PartnerAdventure hits on something crucial with the angle point — in my static caravan setup I went from flat-mounted panels to a 35° tilt frame over winter and picked up a genuinely surprising...
Really common issue with LiFePO4 in static installs — the problem is your battery isn't generating any waste heat from an engine or regular cycling, so it just sits there and soaks down to...
CrafterWanderer | 1,203 posts
Something nobody's touched on yet — AGM self-discharge accelerates significantly below 10°C, so if your batteries are in an uninsulated compartment, your resting...
@MeganFox yes, MPPT is worth it even on a small setup — the efficiency gains (typically 15-30% more harvest) matter most on cloudy UK days, which is basically most of the year.
The real clincher:...
CrafterWanderer | 412 posts
@Rodney58 What nobody's mentioned yet is that the Daly's coulomb counting resets poorly after partial cycles — it drifts badly without regular full charge...
CrafterWanderer | 341 posts
Worth noting that self-discharge rates between individual cells are never perfectly matched — over several months that tiny variance compounds until the weakest cell...
@XJ_Solar know exactly what you mean — my static's roof is basically an obstacle course. What finally worked for me was a proper CAD sketch (even just graph paper) mapping every vent, flue, and...
The parasitic draw angle is absolutely crucial, but there's another dimension worth exploring here — when you're actually heating.
I've got a static caravan setup running a Victron SmartShunt to...
