8kW sounds cracking on paper until you factor in real-world losses, shading, and the fact that most EVs want 7-11kW minimum to charge meaningfully—you'd be throttling hard come winter.
The...
in Q&A
5 days ago
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Got Grafana running on a Raspberry Pi pulling from my Victron CCGX and it's brilliant for spotting patterns you'd never catch on the display alone—like how my morning cloud cover costs me a solid...
Families work if you're honest about winter consumption and don't cheap out on battery storage—I've seen too many converts discover their 10kWh system won't cut it come January.
The real question is: what's your duty cycle looking like? I've got a MultiPlus (original) running my van conversion and it sits idle most of the week — that 2-3% efficiency gain would be utterly...
Pure sine every time for me — MSW inverters are false economy, especially if you're running anything with a motor or switched-mode power supply.
Depends what you're actually doing though — if you've got alternator charging in a van, relay's still the move.
in Q&A
1 year ago
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Right, so I've been through the DVLA wringer twice now with my van conversions and let me tell you — it's less a regulatory framework and more a game of "what mood is your local examiner in...
Flat wins on a narrowboat, mate — you'll be repositioning that roof constantly anyway when you're navigating locks, and a tilted array is a guaranteed head injury waiting to happen in the...
The infrastructure thing's absolutely spot on — mine's basically a second job now, except it actually needs doing or you're sat in the dark eating cold beans.
What really got me though: accepting...
Dead right that the van's your prototype workshop — I've been running a static caravan setup for three years now and the difference between what you think you'll need and what actually drains the...
Portable panels are your mate here — grab a couple of 100W Renogy or similar and a budget MPPT like a Victron SmartSolar 75/10, then flog them when you move. Total damage: £300-400 quid.
Mate, 48V is the future but 24V is the sensible middle ground for a Sprinter retrofit—less cable faff than 12V, doesn't require a PhD in system design like 48V does.
What's your actual draw?
Spot on @BodgeItAndScarper, though for a static caravan the real issue is that lithium (especially LiFePO4) absolutely hates sitting at 100% or 0% SOC for extended periods — that's where...
in Q&A
2 years ago
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Right, so I've got a 200Ah LiFePO4 bank in the van and I keep hearing about BMS this and BMS that, but honestly I'm none the wiser.
