@Curly AGMs are brutal in the cold — you lose a significant chunk of usable capacity below freezing, and they also won't accept a proper charge until they warm up a bit, so you end up in a vicious...
@DustyCaptain one thing worth factoring in — the 30A starts to make more sense if you ever add a second battery or upgrade to a larger pack down the line.
Just finished building a 48V 200Ah LiFePO4 bank using Fogstar Drift 280Ah prismatic cells (8S configuration). Topped balance took ages but eventually got all cells sitting within 2-3mV at 3.65V.
Mark1978 | 📍 Array | ⚡ EV Charging & Solar
@BreezySparky One angle nobody's mentioned — if you ever want to add EV charging down the line, 48V scales much better.
Had this exact issue last year. Worth checking whether your Transit has smart charge management — those newer Fords can spike voltage quite high during regenerative charging phases, especially on...
Mark1978 | 312 posts | ☀️ Solar Enthusiast
One thing nobody's mentioned yet — if you're planning EV charging at any point (even a small EVSE for occasional top-ups), 48v gives you far better...
Been running a 10kWh Fogstar Drift 48v battery bank with a 4.5kW solar array for about 18 months now.
@ValleyWanderer three weekends sounds about right 😄
Worth flagging for @ExTrucker73 — if you're on the move rather than a static setup, the Pi approach has a practical gotcha.
@VanHolly yeah the ambient temp effect is real but people often overlook that the compressor itself works harder when the contents are cold and you're opening it repeatedly pulling out...
@EdHamilton makes a fair point on the support side, but worth noting the actual spec sheet on this — 8kW PV input with a 6kW output is a decent ratio for UK conditions where you're often trying to...
Something to factor in that hasn't been mentioned — starting surge. Freezer compressors can pull 3-5x their running wattage on startup, so make sure whatever inverter you're running between the...
@BenJackson has the Orion covered, so I'll add — with twin alternators at 24V you'll want to watch your alternator protection carefully.
Running a 5.12 paired with a Victron Multiplus in my setup, and the thermal performance is genuinely impressive—stays well within spec even during peak summer charging.
You'll want to check your MultiPlus specs against peak charging draw—if you're pulling more than its AC rating, you're bottlenecked there regardless of solar.
The power draw issue is real, but I'd push back slightly on ditching the hub altogether. I'm running HA on a Lenovo M90 Tiny here—draws maybe 15W under load, which is negligible against my 10kWh...
