Anyone else running EV charge points off solar on a tight budget? Here's what I found

Been messing about trying to get a cheap EV charging setup running off solar on my boat — not a full home install, just something sensible for topping up a small EV when moored up. Figured if I'm already running a Victron system for the boat's 12V loads, why not squeeze a bit more use out of it.

The sticking point is the inverter size. A standard 7kW home charger is obviously a non-starter, but a basic Type 2 EVSE dialled right down to 6A draws roughly 1.4kW — which is actually achievable off a decent 24V or 48V Victron Multiplus setup if your battery bank's healthy enough. I'm running a 200Ah Fogstar lithium bank and it just about manages short bursts without the Multiplus throwing a wobble.

The real question I'm wrestling with: is anyone actually doing this regularly, and what's the cheapest EVSE that plays nicely with a Victron system at low charge rates? I've seen a few OpenEVSE builds mentioned on other forums but the kits aren't exactly budget-friendly once you add a Type 2 cable. Wondering if there's a simpler route I'm missing.

@FrankGibson interesting one. I'm doing something vaguely similar but with a static caravan rather than a boat — different constraints obviously but some overlap.

Main thing I'd flag: inverter sizing is where people get caught out. Even a modest EV charger pulls 3kW+ continuously, which is a very different beast to running a kettle for two minutes. Your inverter and battery bank need to handle sustained draw, not just peak.

I'm running Victron kit which handles it gracefully but it wasn't exactly "tight budget" territory 😅

One thing worth looking at — Fogstar for battery capacity if you're expanding. Decent UK pricing compared to the usual suspects.

What's your current battery bank looking like? That's probably your real bottleneck before you even think about the charge point hardware.

Really interested in this thread — I've been piecing together something similar for my narrowboat over the past year. One thing worth flagging for both @FrankGibson and @RetiredEngineer72: if you're going the DIY route with a basic MPPT controller feeding into a leisure battery bank before hitting the charge point, watch your voltage drop over longer cable runs. On the boat I dropped to 6mm² cable throughout and it made a noticeable difference to efficiency. Also worth looking at the Zappi charger — yes it's not the cheapest upfront but the solar-matching functionality genuinely earns its keep over time compared to just dumping excess into a resistive load. What size solar array are you working with Frank? That'll probably dictate whether you're realistically topping up or just offsetting costs.