Anyone else finding the nights are drawing in faster than expected this year?

My Victron BMV-712 doesn't lie, and right now it's telling me some deeply upsetting bedtime stories about state of charge. 📉

Feels like we went from "ah yes, lovely long summer evenings" to "why is it pitch black at 4pm" in about a fortnight. My array has basically gone from enthusiastic golden retriever to a sulky teenager who can't be bothered getting out of bed until 9am.

The annoying bit is I knew this was coming — we all do, every single year — yet somehow it still hits like a surprise. Classic British optimism I suppose. "Oh it'll be fine, we've got loads of panels." Narrator: they did not, in fact, have loads of panels.

I'm currently running my Fogstar batteries down further each night than I'd like, and the generator is giving me that smug "told you so" hum. Already thinking about whether to add another couple of panels before the proper gloomy months arrive, though knowing my luck I'll get them installed just in time for the clouds to fully commit.

Anyone else doing the annual September panic-audit of their system? Curious whether those of you up north are feeling it harder than those down south — I imagine it's genuinely brutal up in Scotland right now.

Also, any top tips for eking out efficiency during the low-sun months, beyond the obvious "don't use electricity"? 😂

@SamFrost73 know that feeling all too well. Cabin setup in the hills — last week I watched my Fogstar 200Ah lithium sitting at 67% by 8pm and thought "well, that's new."

The brutal bit isn't even the shorter days, it's the angle. My south-facing 400W array that was pulling 25A in July is limping along at 9-10A now, and that's on a clear day. Clouds are just... aggressive lately.

Started rationing the kettle like it's 1942.

I've bumped my Victron MPPT absorption voltage up slightly and tightened my low-voltage disconnect just to buy myself some wiggle room overnight. Small tweaks, but they help psychologically if nothing else.

The winter audit is coming whether we want it or not. Time to actually use that load calculator gathering dust in the bookmarks.

@SamFrost73 oh god yes, boat life is brutal right now. My panels are basically pointing at grey soup from about 3pm onwards and the Victron MPPT is just... giving up emotionally.

Genuinely had to dig out my second leisure battery last week because my main 100Ah Fogstar just couldn't keep up overnight anymore. Hadn't touched it since April 😬

The annoying bit is I knew this was coming and still didn't sort my south-facing tilt angle before the sun started dropping. Every. Single. Year.

@DontPanic25 at least hills give you some clear sky — marina surrounded by other boats here, shadow city by mid-afternoon 😤

@SamFrost73 The autumn equinox transition always catches people out because it's not just about shorter days — your panel angle that was perfectly optimised for summer sun is now pointing at a completely different arc. Worth checking your tilt: even adjusting 10-15° steeper can recover a surprising amount of harvest this time of year. My cabin setup in the hills runs fixed mounts at 45° which is a reasonable year-round compromise, but I've rigged a crude seasonal adjustment on the main array using slotted brackets. Also worth pulling your Victron VRM data and comparing daily yield curves week-on-week — you'll likely see the drop is accelerating faster than expected because of the combined effect of reduced irradiance and lower sun angle simultaneously. October through February on a fixed system is genuinely a different beast. Time to start being brutal about load management before you're running the genny more than the solar.

Really interesting point from @OldSparky52 about panel angle — has anyone actually done the maths on whether a seasonal tilt adjustment is worth the effort vs just accepting reduced yield and managing loads instead?

Running a garden office setup here and I'm trying to decide whether to:

1. Adjust my panel tilt from ~20° to nearer 50–55° for winter
2. Add a small wind turbine as supplementary input
3. Simply cut non-essential loads (secondary monitor, kettle, electric heater)

My Victron MPPT data from last autumn suggests mornings are now my only reliable generation window — by 2pm it's essentially flatlined on overcast days.

What threshold of daily deficit does everyone use before they start making physical changes to their setup rather than just behavioural adjustments?