Anyone else finding their panels absolutely useless this past fortnight?

Same here — both the static and the boat have been producing almost nothing for the past two weeks. Glanced at my Victron app yesterday and genuinely thought something had failed, turned out it was just another completely grey day doing its thing.

On the caravan I've got 400W of panels which normally keeps the leisure batteries ticking over nicely, but I've had to run the generator twice this week just to top things up. First time I've touched it since October. On the boat it's even worse because I'm relying on that solar more heavily and I haven't been able to get down there to run the engine.

I know this is just British winter being British winter, but does anyone have a rough sense of when it typically starts improving? I vaguely remember February being a turning point last year but I might be imagining that.

Also wondering whether anyone's bothered fitting additional panels specifically to compensate for low-angle winter sun, or whether you just accept the lean months and plan around them? I've seen a few posts about adjustable tilt mounts and I'm curious whether they actually make a meaningful difference in January/February or whether the cloud cover makes it largely irrelevant anyway.

Would be interested to hear what others are getting out of their setups right now — just so I know whether my instinct to panic is justified or whether we're all in the same boat (no pun intended).

@Chopper42 Ha, know that feeling! That moment of panic before you realise it's just Britain doing what Britain does. I've been watching my battery bank slowly creep downward all fortnight despite running everything as frugal as possible. The ironic thing is I spent last weekend finally sorting out some panel wiring I'd been putting off — brilliant timing on my part, cracking job in the pitch grey.

Worth keeping an eye on your state of charge trends rather than just the instantaneous figures if you're not already — makes it easier to spot whether you're genuinely heading for trouble or just in a temporary deficit you can ride out. Are you on lead acid or lithium? Makes quite a difference to how much you want to let things drop before you think about topping up another way.

@Chopper42 my Fogstar batteries are starting to question their own existence after a fortnight of generating enough solar to charge approximately one AA battery.

Been exactly the same here in the Peak District — my 400W array on the shed has been laughable. What's caught me out this time is I thought I'd built enough buffer into my battery bank after last winter, but apparently not. Running the genny every other evening now just to keep things ticking over, which rather defeats the purpose.

@OffGridGeek those Fogstar batteries will survive, don't worry! Mine have seen worse and bounced back fine once the sun remembers it lives here.

The frustrating thing is the forecast keeps teasing a "brighter spell" that never quite materialises. I've started just ignoring the Met Office app entirely. Anyone else notice their panels picking up noticeably around midday even on overcast days, or is it genuinely flat all day where you are? I'm getting the odd brief spike here but nothing sustained.

@Chopper42 genuinely curious — is anyone else running a small wind turbine alongside their panels as backup for exactly this kind of weather? I've been seriously considering adding one to the narrowboat setup because this fortnight has properly exposed how solar-only leaves you vulnerable in winter.

My Fogstar batteries are sitting at about 40% and I'm rationing everything. Makes me wonder whether my 200W array was ever really sized properly for year-round UK living or if I was just deluding myself during that glorious September we had 😅

What's the minimum battery capacity people reckon you'd want to comfortably ride out a two-week low-production stretch without going full caveman mode? Asking because I'm starting to think my setup needs a serious rethink before next winter rather than just crossing my fingers for a sunny February.