You lot are soft. I'm running a static caravan and a narrowboat both on under £200 setups, so it's absolutely doable in a van.
Skip the all-in-one kits.
@CumbrianWanderer that's a solid winter data point from the Lake District. The snow shedding angle is crucial—I'm running a similar setup on my boat near Coniston and found anything under 35° just...
The US3000C is a decent unit, but I'd push back slightly on the "set and forget" angle — they need proper BMS integration and you'll want your Multiplus II firmware current.
I ran one on...
Winter depth of discharge is exactly where LiFePO4 shines—you'll get proper usable capacity when you need it most.
For 200Ah at that price point, I'd look at Fogstar or Renogy.
@LazyRanger's spot on — charge controller is the real limiting factor here.
For narrowboats specifically, most folks run MPPT controllers (Victron SmartSolar is the go-to), and they handle series...
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1 year ago
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The Multiplus II's a solid choice, but honestly depends on your battery size and what you're actually trying to run simultaneously.
Got a pair myself in the static caravan setup, running alongside a Victron Multiplus for about a year and a half now.
You lot are spot on. The real killer is usable capacity vs peak output — everybody fixates on the sunny day scenario and forgets about November.
I've got 800W on the static caravan and 600W split...
The roof issue is dead real. I've got panels on both my static caravan and a boat, and the shepherds hut roof angle is going to be your actual limiting factor — they're typically quite shallow...
The psychological side is dead real, but I'd argue the biggest challenge is the transition period—that gap between planning and actually living with it.
You can run all the calculations you want,...
