Charging an EV from solar while living aboard — anyone actually done this long-term?

Been living on my narrowboat for three years now and recently picked up a second-hand Nissan Leaf (24kWh). The marina has a shore power hookup but I'm trying to wean myself off it as much as possible — currently running 400W of Renogy panels into a Victron MPPT 100/30 with a Fogstar 200Ah LiFePO4 under the gunwale.

The maths gets a bit grim in winter. On a decent July day I'm pulling maybe 1.2–1.5kWh from the roof, which barely scratches the Leaf's pack. I'm not trying to do long runs — just enough for local errands, 10–15 miles a week tops. But even trickle charging via a 13A socket off the inverter feels like I'm robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Curious whether anyone in a motorhome or van context has cracked a similar problem — especially if you've gone beyond 400W on a fixed roof setup. Did expanding panel capacity actually shift the needle for EV charging, or did you just end up with a bigger battery to feel guilty about draining? Wondering if a second 200Ah Fogstar and another 200W panel is the sensible next step or just throwing money at wishful thinking.

@BurnSophie done this on my boat for about 18 months with a Leaf (30kWh). Honest answer: solar alone is marginal unless you've got serious panel real estate.

Key things I learned:

• Charge to 80% only, kills range anxiety and saves the battery long-term
• A Victron MultiPlus bridging shore power + solar means you're always topped up without fully relying on either
• Prioritise overnight charging timed to discharge batteries you've banked during the day
• 24kWh Leaf draws heavily — even a decent 800W array won't fully replenish daily usage

Realistically you'll still dip into marina hookup in winter. I use mine probably 3-4 days a week November–February vs maybe once a fortnight in summer.

Worth checking what DNO your marina uses — some charge commercial rates for EV charging which changes the economics completely.

Not directly relevant since I'm on a static caravan rather than a boat, but I've been trying to do something similar — charging a small EV from my solar setup during summer months.

What I've found is that the gap between summer and winter generation is brutal. I can top up reasonably well June through August, but once October hits I'm basically back on grid for anything EV-related.

Quick question for @CE_Builds — when you say "marginal," are you talking panel capacity or battery storage being the bottleneck? On my setup it's definitely storage that kills me. Running Victron kit with Fogstar cells and I still wouldn't attempt serious EV charging without a big sunny forecast first.

Does the marina shore power cost much? Wondering if for a 24kWh Leaf it might just be worth accepting hybrid charging rather than going fully solar-dependent.

@BurnSophie this is almost exactly the journey I went down, except mine was land-based rather than water. The bit nobody warns you about is the battery buffer problem — your boat's house bank becomes the middleman between your panels and the Leaf, and suddenly you're asking a lot of it. I ran a 200Ah lithium bank (Fogstar Drift cells, self-built) and found I could realistically push 3–5kWh into the Leaf on a decent summer day before the house bank started complaining. Winter told a very different story. The 24kWh Leaf is actually your friend here compared to the 30kWh — smaller pack means you're not chasing an impossible target. Set the Leaf's charge limit to 50–60% via the Nissan app and you'll find the whole system breathes much more easily.

Great thread, this. @BurnSophie I've been doing something very similar from a converted horsebox on a rural smallholding for just over two years, charging a second-gen Leaf.

The honest reality nobody mentions: seasonal mismatch is brutal. Summer you'll feel smug and sorted, but October through February you're essentially back to needing grid top-ups unless you've got serious battery storage buffering things.

What transformed my setup was stopping trying to charge the Leaf directly from panels and instead letting my house battery bank absorb daytime generation, then trickling into the Leaf overnight via a proper EVSE. Smooths everything out enormously.

Also worth checking your Leaf's charging rate settings — dropping to 6A slow charge made a massive difference to how well my inverter coped.

What's your current panel capacity and inverter setup? That'll determine what's actually realistic for you.

Really interested in this thread — I've got a static caravan setup and I'm at the early planning stage for exactly this problem.

@Julie1991 curious what you were going to say before you got cut off there!

My specific question: does anyone know whether a Victron Multiplus can be configured to only push surplus solar into EV charging, rather than drawing from the battery bank? I'd hate to drain my LiFePO4s (Fogstar cells) just to charge the Leaf overnight.

Also wondering about the minimum charge rate issue — most EV chargers seem to want at least 6A at 240V. Does solar ever produce steadily enough to sustain that without a buffer?

Is anyone actually using a dedicated EVSE that can throttle down to match available solar generation rather than just on/off switching?

@BurnSophie yes, three years into doing almost exactly this from a 57ft narrowboat! I've got a 24kWh Leaf too, funnily enough.

The honest answer is it works, but seasonally it's a very different story. Summer is brilliant — I regularly top up 15-20 miles worth on a decent day. Winter is where it gets humbling. November through January I've basically accepted the shore hookup or public chargers are part of the picture.

One thing I'd flag specifically for boat life: keep a close eye on your battery bank's state of charge before you start a Leaf session. I learned the hard way that pulling too aggressively whilst your domestic bank is already low causes all sorts of grief with the inverter cutting out mid-charge.

What's your current solar array size? That makes a huge difference to what's actually realistic for your situation.

Really curious what daily mileage you're all working with — that seems like the crux of it to me. A 24kWh pack is manageable if you're only doing 20-30 miles between charges, but I'd imagine solar yield in winter months makes this genuinely tricky even with a decent bank behind you.

@Helen1994 what size array are you running? I'm planning something similar from a tiny house setup and keep going back and forth on whether a Victron Multiplus-II paired with a chunky Fogstar lithium bank could act as a proper buffer between panels and the Leaf's onboard charger.

@BurnSophie not a boat setup but I've been running a Leaf off solar at my static caravan for about 18 months now. The honest truth nobody tells you: forget full charges. I target 40-60% top-ups, never chasing 100%. My 1.2kW array through a Victron MPPT feeds a Fogstar lithium bank first, then trickle-charges the Leaf overnight via a basic 3.6kW EVSE. Works a treat in summer. Winter is brutal — you're basically running on stored grid energy if you're not careful. What's your panel capacity looking like? That's the real starting point before anything else matters.

Really glad @Helen1994 has chimed in with real-world experience — keen to hear more from her.

I'll add from my own setup (converted Sprinter, 600W panels, 200Ah LiFePO4): the honest answer is that it's very seasonal. Summer I can top up meaningfully between drives; November through February I'm barely covering my own living loads, let alone poking electrons into a Leaf.

@OakSoul is right that daily mileage is the crux. If you're genuinely low-mileage — under 20 miles most days — you've got a fighting chance. But you'll need a solid battery bank as a buffer rather than charging the car directly from panels.