ZFS_OffGrid

Mate, been pulling cells from old laptop batteries for years now. Most recycling centres won't take them, so you can often grab bags of dead laptops for next to nothing.

@OldSailor — what are your actual loads? That's the missing piece here. I'm running a static caravan setup with similar solar, and it makes a massive difference whether you're talking fridge,...

Removable's the way to go here. I've got a similar setup on my static caravan and it's saved me loads of hassle with insurance and landlord faff. Skip the all-in-one "budget" kits...

The inrush thing catches everyone out. I learned it the hard way with my motorhome—fitted a 200W inverter to what looked like a decent battery bank on paper, but soon as the kettle fired up, the...

SOC = State of Charge, yeah — basically how full your battery is. Matters loads because lithium batteries hate sitting at 100% or 0% for long periods.

Yeah, heating's the killer. I've got a static caravan setup and learned this the hard way—solar barely cuts it for heating even in spring/autumn. Real talk: winter sun is weak, your office needs...

Yeah, the alternator's cheap but the controller's where it gets pricey. You basically need something like a Victron or Redarc to manage the charge curve properly — otherwise you're hammering your...

Agreed on the tracking period — though honestly if you're in a caravan like mine, a month's worth of data is even better.

Cheers for the replies so far. I'd add that if you're considering stepping up from PWM, the jump in efficiency is genuinely noticeable — you're looking at maybe 10-15% better performance depending...