Managed to build a working garden office solar setup for under £400 — here's what I used

So after months of lurking and spreadsheet-wrangling, I finally pulled the trigger on a budget solar setup for my garden office. Wanted to share the breakdown because I couldn't find a single post that covered everything end-to-end at this price point.

The kit: 2× 100W Renogy panels (picked up second-hand off Facebook Marketplace for £60 the pair), a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 75/15 (£85 new from a UK eBay seller), a Fogstar Drift 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 (£189), and a basic 12V fuse board for distribution. Total landed around £380 including a bit of 6mm² cable from the local electrical wholesaler.

Running a laptop, a small LED lamp, and a WiFi router off it daily. Honestly surprised how well the Fogstar has held up — it's been three months now through some truly grim UK weather, and the Victron app is showing healthy cycles throughout. The 200W of panels feels tight on overcast days in November, which I half expected, but it's keeping up so far.

Has anyone else managed a garden office setup at this kind of budget? Curious whether anyone went cheaper on the BMS side or regretted skimping somewhere I haven't yet — particularly around fusing or cable sizing.

HarbourSam | 📍 South Coast | ⚡ 2.4kWh LiFePO4

Brilliant work @48VGal! Would love to see the full breakdown when you get a chance to post it.

One thing worth mentioning to anyone else attempting something similar on a tight budget — keep an eye on the cable sizing between your panels and controller. It's tempting to skimp there but undersized DC cabling is where a lot of budget builds quietly haemorrhage efficiency (or worse, create a fire risk). A few extra quid on decent 6mm² cable pays for itself quickly.

Also curious what charge controller you went with? MPPT vs PWM can make a surprising difference to your usable yield, especially through our glorious British winters 😅

Really good to see a proper costed real-world example on here — the forum needs more of these rather than theoretical builds. Following this thread closely!

JubileeClipHero5 | 📍 Array | ⚡ Van conversion / EV charging

Solid effort @48VGal — under £400 for a functional garden office setup is genuinely impressive. Keen to see the full parts list.

One question: what are you running for EV charging from it? Even trickle charging at 6A draws ~1.4kW which would hammer a budget setup pretty quickly. I've been down a similar rabbit hole trying to squeeze EV charging into a van conversion without oversizing the whole system.

Also curious whether you went Fogstar for the battery side — they've been the go-to for budget LiFePO4 lately and the quality seems decent for the price point. Renogy panels are another obvious candidate at that budget.

Would be useful to know your typical daily load so others can gauge whether a similar build would suit them.

Really nice work @48VGal! Would love to see the full parts breakdown when you get a chance. One thing worth mentioning to anyone looking to replicate this — don't overlook the cable sizing. It's dead easy to cheap out there and then wonder why your system's underperforming or, worse, getting warm connections. Proper crimped lugs and appropriately rated cable made a noticeable difference on my shed build. Also curious what you're running off it day-to-day? Laptop, lighting, monitors? That'll help folks gauge whether a similar spec would suit their own setup. Brilliant that you've documented it — these real-world budget builds are genuinely more useful than the theoretical stuff you find elsewhere. 👍