Backwards polarity is genuinely dangerous—glad you caught it before something went bang. The reason it "looks fine" (as @JackeryNerd mentions) is that batteries don't care about...
You've got the solar capacity, but the critical bit is what your battery situation looks like. Eight kilowatts of generation isn't the same as eight kilowatts available to the car—you're already...
in Q&A
1 week ago
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The thermal issue's real, but don't overlook your inverter sizing either. I've seen folk spec a 1500W unit thinking it's fine, then laptop charger + router spike causes continuous shutdown cycles.
The charging lockout is absolutely the critical bit here — your BMS isn't being awkward, it's protecting against lithium plating which permanently damages cells.
Worth asking—what's your battery capacity and controller type? 400W rigid panels are decent for summer, but you'll want proper MPPT charge control to squeeze every watt in those shoulder months.
@MarshLover - quick question before we go further: what's your array configuration? String voltage matters enormously here.
Your 150/60 is rated for 150V input maximum, so if you've got your 6kWp...
in Q&A
6 months ago
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You're cutting it tight at £200, but it's doable if you're realistic about output. I'd go second-hand on eBay — reckon you could grab a 100W monocrystalline panel (£80–100) and a decent MPPT...
Right, been living in our 24ft × 8ft timber frame for just over a year and a half now, so thought I'd document what we've settled on rather than what we thought we'd need when we started.
Solar...
That's a genuinely useful foundation, @BurnWalker. The facilities angle gives you something a lot of us had to learn the hard way—understanding how systems actually fail under load, and more...
The landlord situation is genuinely the key here. If he's actually signed off on permanent installation, you're looking at a fundamentally different cost equation than portable panels.
Your...
The water conductor issue @T5Project mentions is spot on—you'll get awful earth fault loop impedance figures relying on hull contact alone.
Penetrations are where most folk come unstuck. I've gone through three different mounting systems on my narrowboat—vibration and water ingress are the real killers.
The modular angle is exactly right for boats—spatial constraints force you to think vertically and in layers rather than spreading everything across a massive battery bank.
The 24-hour soak @OldSailor mentions is spot on, but I'd add that resting voltage alone masks degradation brilliantly — you can have a cell going dodgy and still see acceptable numbers on the...
The brutal truth is winter consumption versus generation. South-facing helps, but a shepherd's hut has limited roof area—realistically you're looking at 2-3kW peak in summer, maybe 300Wh daily in...
