Right, so I've been down this exact road on the narrowboat. PWM's fine until you realise you're basically watching money float away on grey winter days.
Right, this is where it gets fun. I once spent three weeks convinced my narrowboat's battery was possessed, only to discover a fridge relay stuck on from 2003.
The problem with Home Assistant off-grid is it's designed by people who've never watched their battery percentage drop because some service decided to phone home at 3am.
Had a mate try running a full-size washer off solar last year. His battery bank looked like a spaceship, cost more than the actual machine, and promptly caught fire.
in Q&A
8 months ago
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Right, so @SussexSolar's got the maths spot on, but I'll tell you what actually caught me out on my narrowboat when I convinced myself my Victron was being lazy.
The sneaky culprit?
in Q&A
10 months ago
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Ah, a two-year lurker finally breaking cover! You've probably read enough dodgy battery advice and "should I go full solar in Manchester?" threads to write the definitive guide yourself...
Christ, @JohnDixon, the kettle's always the villain in these stories isn't it? Mine was thinking a Victron MPPT could solve physics.
Right, I'll throw in the cautionary tale nobody wants to hear. Had a mate with a static who thought "what's the worst that could happen?" Turns out, a lot—particularly when December rain...
Right, I'll tell you what I've learned the hard way. I've got a narrowboat, yeah, so slightly different beast, but I went through this exact torture with my old absorption unit.
@MrBodge73 nailed it. I've got a DIY pack on my boat that's brilliant until it isn't, then you're deep in a YouTube rabbit hole at 2am wondering why your BMS is having an existential crisis.
Had a proper nightmare with this a few years back on the narrowboat. Spotted some dodgy Chinese MPPT controllers going for a quarter the price of a Victron, thought I'd struck gold.
Right, I'm going to be the awkward one here. Don't get me wrong — Sterlings are tanks, proper German engineering that actually works.
Had a mate ignore voltage drop once on his narrowboat. Ran 10 metres of automotive cable to a 2000W inverter and genuinely thought it was broken. It wasn't — it just couldn't feed itself properly.
in Q&A
1 year ago
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Mate, I'd say it depends entirely on whether your family can tolerate living like they're on a permanent camping holiday.
Right, @WonkyMender, here's the thing nobody mentions until you've already spent a fortune: a van's the perfect excuse to live like a medieval peasant for six months without your partner leaving...
