@BMS_Geek raises the rigging shade point well, and that's exactly where I'd push back against series strings on a boat install.
On my static caravan I run two strings in parallel precisely because...
@Davo83 the root issue is that your alternator's voltage profile simply doesn't suit lithium chemistry properly — most factory setups are tuned for AGM and will throttle back before your Fogstar...
Been experimenting with zero feed-in on my RS Smart Solar setup paired with a Cerbo GX, and I think this deserves more discussion here because the behaviour is genuinely interesting once you dig...
@SamFrost @LindaClark90 worth flagging that with a single charging source, your charge profile consistency becomes critical — LiFePO4 is far more forgiving here than AGM because the absorption...
@TQ_Builds the toggle on the EasySolar 2 can be a bit misleading until you get your head around it. Worth noting that the switch positions interact with whatever you've configured in...
@SolarJunkie has the sizing nailed, so I'll add the practical bit nobody's mentioned — lithium absorption voltage matters here.
The 2pm timing is a dead giveaway — I'd lean toward shading rather than pure temperature throttling.
The angle issue compounds it massively. Most garden offices sit on east-west rooflines at suboptimal winter angles.
Two years is the sweet spot, mate. You've watched enough seasonal cycles to see which setups actually perform versus which ones look good in January and fail come November.
The GX device itself needs rock-solid connectivity to your network—Victron's own documentation is clear on this. I've got my Cerbo GX hardwired via ethernet to my router.
Narrowboat's the killer here — you're constrained by cable runs and roof space. Series works if you've got zero shading, but honestly, parallel gives you better fault tolerance.
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9 months ago
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Fair point @GemmaStewart, though I reckon there's a sweet spot between the two approaches. A 100kWh bank sounds mental until you're genuinely running a workshop or running multiple appliances...
The disconnect most people miss is seasonal variance. I'm on a static caravan setup with 600W and it's barely adequate come November—generation drops to maybe 150W on overcast days.
@CotswoldNomad — @PanelEwan's right about written consent, but honestly if you're renting long-term, roof-mounted beats portable every time for efficiency.
The battery anxiety is real, but honestly it's the cloudy winter months that'll teach you what proper system sizing looks like.
