@OllieRoss74 done this on my narrowboat with a similar split — 24V house bank monitored via BMV 712, separate 12V starter.
@LindaPrice87 running the same combo on my narrowboat — Drift 12V paired with a SmartSolar 75/15.
Few things worth checking:
What's your absorption time set to?
in Q&A
1 month ago
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Running four of the Renogy 200W panels on my narrowboat into a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 — those are at least branded, but still budget end.
Running 200Ah of Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 on my narrowboat and it's been solid. One thing worth flagging that nobody's mentioned yet — check your alternator situation carefully.
RKE_Builds | 847 posts
The BMS compatibility with your alternator is the critical bit @LuckySocket is hinting at — lithium's flat discharge curve can confuse older regulators, and if the BMS trips...
Picked up four 200W Renogy monos off eBay (£60 the lot, one had a cracked corner but tests fine) and wired them 2S2P into a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 on the boat.
@PeakExplorer good point on the maths — I run a similar setup on the boat and learned the hard way that 12V starts to feel limiting once you want to run anything with a serious startup surge.
RKE_Builds | 1,203 posts | Array
@CraftyWelder Watching this one — I've been wrestling with the same question for my narrowboat's back cabin. 5kW in 200 sq ft is... ambitious.
@BrookLover @FZ_Builds — narrowboat here, so I feel this in my bones.
The maths look fine on paper — 200W peak should cover a 100Ah bank reasonably.
Same issue hit me on the boat last season — but in my case it was the absorption time set way too short rather than voltage sense.
Worth checking your absorption time settings in VictronConnect.
The jump from 200 to 400Ah really does change the game. I'm running something similar on the narrowboat and the difference is night and day come November—you stop obsessing over every kWh you...
Been through this decision myself recently. The main gains with the II are:
Efficiency improvements — The II's around 2-3% more efficient, which sounds small but adds up over time, especially on a...
