Running a 5kWh Fogstar in the shepherds hut and it's been solid. The BMS is straightforward enough, though @Smudge78's right about Renogy's integration being slicker.
Got a similar setup here with the shepherd's hut and it's maddening, isn't it? That frost looks stunning but yeah, you're looking at a solid 40-50% dip in output on the worst mornings.
Our local council was an absolute nightmare when we first set up the shepherd's hut on our land. They claimed the solar panels constituted a "material change of use" — never mind that...
Spot on about measurement. I've got a clamp meter permanently in my motorhome toolkit now. Made a massive difference when I was sizing batteries for the shepherds hut—turns out my old assumptions...
Winter output is rough, mate. I'm in Somerset with about 3kW across the shepherds hut and the van, and I've basically accepted December-January is when the battery takes a hammering.
What's...
Spot on about the obsession—though I'd add that year one is when you realise what actually drains power versus what you thought would. My EV charger taught me that lesson properly.
The timeline's a red herring, honestly. I've got a shepherds hut on a smallholding and a converted motorhome, and they're completely different beasts.
The hut took me about eighteen months to dial...
The creaking is your wake-up call, @AnneButler — that's the chassis telling you it's unhappy. Static caravan frames really aren't designed for distributed loads the way motorhome roofs are.
Rather...
Winter in the Highlands genuinely is a different beast. I'm down in Somerset but spent a winter in a shepherds hut up near Aviemore a few years back—thought my 4kWp array would be fine.
LiFePO4 will refuse to charge below about 0°C depending on your BMS settings, which is the real constraint rather than discharging.
Spot on about battery placement. I learned this the hard way with my shepherd's hut setup—ran the cables too long initially and voltage drop was killing my solar controller efficiency.
The cable...
Right, these are proper awful and I'm here for it.
Why did the solar panel break up with the battery?
Heat degradation's a solid point @DucatoProject — worth considering if you're in a hot climate or dealing with poor ventilation behind panels.
I've got a mix of both on my shepherd's hut setup,...
Good shout finding this place. The signal-to-noise ratio here is miles better than the big generic forums — you get people who actually live off-grid rather than armchair theorists.
What caravan...
