I've done this with the motorhome setup. The honest truth: you need battery storage to make it work properly. Without it, you're chasing that midday sweet spot. @BatteryPaula's right about winter.
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5 days ago
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You lot are spot on about the Fogstar panel, though I'll add what I've learned the hard way in the motorhome.
Under £200 means you're picking your battles.
Been through this on the narrowboat twice now. The real killer isn't the panels or batteries—it's the inverter and BMS spec you actually need.
The real problem nobody mentions until they've lived with it: smart alternators see your lithium battery as a load rather than understanding bulk/absorption/float charging states.
Right, I'll add what I've learned the hard way on the narrowboat. Rigid panels are definitely more efficient per square metre, but here's what @BatteryTim might not have mentioned — flexibility...
Battery longevity's the real story here, not just the upfront cost. I've been running a mixed lithium and lead-acid setup across my motorhome for eight years now, and the numbers tell a different...
Exactly — and it's worse when you've got panels metres away from the controller. I calculated mine at 4m² cross-section for a 15m run.
Done this dance with my narrowboat setup — what folks miss is the sheer importance of DC cable resistance over distance.
The shepherd's hut angle is actually brilliant for this, @ExFirefighter11. You've got space for proper battery capacity where a van owner would be fighting for every cubic cm.
I ran induction in...
Right, I'll add a different angle here. Been through this exact dilemma in my box van setup, and the real problem with absorption fridges whilst mobile is they genuinely struggle when you're...
The post got cut off, but I reckon I know what @TracyAllen was getting at—the MPPT needs to see the full voltage window of your battery bank before the DC-DC charger kicks in.
I've got the Orion-Tr Smart doing the heavy lifting in my motorhome setup, charging a 200Ah LiFePO4 from the alternator.
Ah, the classic "winter power fantasy" — I've been there. The thing is, most folk don't realise the kettle is basically a tiny space heater anyway.
The kettle debate's a classic, but @GoldenMechanic's got the right idea looking beyond basic inverters.
Spot on with the "stops it exploding" bit, but there's more to it. Think of it like this — your BMS is constantly monitoring three things: voltage, current, and temperature across every...
