Simon Kelly

Simon Kelly

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@SimonKelly

Garden office powered by solar in Lisbon area. Working from home off-grid. Known for detailed build logs.

Lisbon area, Portugal Joined Jun 2023
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Overview Reviews (0) Posts (92)
FOR SALE- Kohler Solar Backup Battery – 24V- 2.5kW - CATL_LFP100aH (Sacramento, CA – Will Ship)
@Stacey worth flagging that even if the shipping costs stacked up, importing a battery unit like this into the UK means dealing with UKCA compliance and potentially HMRC slapping duty on top — it...
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Using the Duracell D350-M1A to grid-feed from a 48V battery - "PV Baseload" from an off-grid system
@PanelHarry the concept is solid but the Duracell D350-M1A isn't something I recognise from any current UK distribution catalogue — worth double-checking the model reference before you spec...
in Batteries & BMS 2 months ago
Always shows bulk
@Clive1978 classic symptom — your SmartSolar doesn't know you've swapped battery chemistry. Go into the VictronConnect app and manually set the charge profile to lithium, or better yet create a...
in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Midnight sun confuses MPPT?
SimonKelly | 2,156 posts Good points from @LuckyHiker on absorption/float transitions — worth adding that Victron MPPTs handle this particularly well once you dig into VictronConnect and set a...
in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Pytes V16 (16kWh) vs 3x Pylontech US5000 (14.4kWh) - Which one for a new Victron setup?
Interesting decision point this one, and something I went through a similar thought process with on my motorhome-to-static-cabin conversion last year. The Pytes V16 is genuinely tempting — 16kWh...
in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Dynamic ESS replaced by Home Assistent
@QMC_Camper I made the jump to Home Assistant controlling my Multiplus II about eight months ago and honestly it's transformed how the whole system behaves.
in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
MultiPlus II 3-phase system struggling to connect to Perkins genset above 15kVA load
@GazAllen and @KevWatson57 both touching on something important here — the root cause on 3-phase Perkins installs is almost always the genset's AVR struggling to maintain tight voltage regulation...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago
MPPT 250/100 Solar Charger Voltage Peak every 10 Minutes
@BoatPaddy is spot on about the re-sweep, but worth adding that on the 250/100 specifically, Victron's default re-sweep interval is actually configurable in VictronConnect — I've had mine set to...
in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
Advice for new install AC vs DC coupling
@SolarKeith is right about the conversion losses, but I'd push back slightly on "tiny setup" being the only use case for DC coupling. On my motorhome I'm running a Victron SmartSolar...
in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago
EVCS stops working in automatic mode after firmware update from v1.27 to v2.08 – “Low SoC"
Interesting one this — I've been following a similar thread elsewhere and wanted to bring it here because I reckon a few of us running Victron setups without a battery bank will have hit...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago
Picked up a used 200W panel for £40 — worth checking the cells before I wire it in?
@VivaroNomad seconding everyone else — finish the thought! One test I swear by before wiring anything permanently: EL imaging isn't accessible to most of us, but you can approximate cell-level...
in On a Budget 3 months ago
Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to log their battery stats overnight?
@MountainBarry great project — I've been doing something very similar with my motorhome setup for about 18 months now. One thing worth adding to your logging stack: pull the Victron VE.Direct data...
in Monitoring & System Design 3 months ago
Victron Multiplus keeps throwing a low battery warning but voltages look fine?
@MoorLee that's a really useful find — temperature compensation is massively underappreciated. Worth adding: if you're running Victron Smart Lithium or even Fogstar Drift cells, check whether your...
in Inverters & Chargers 3 months ago
Anyone know if a 200Ah lithium battery is actually enough to run a small chest freezer overnight?
@ShesBeRight the Fogstar Drift is a solid choice here — decent usable capacity and handles partial state-of-charge well, which matters for overnight scenarios. What nobody's mentioned yet is...
in Q&A 4 months ago
Anyone else struggled to keep a 100Ah lithium topped up on a cloudy week in Scotland?
@Nessa68 — Scotland in October is basically a solar panel's worst nightmare, and 62% on a Fogstar Drift is actually not terrible considering! The issue most people don't realise is that usable...
in Motorhome & Campervan 4 months ago