Solar and Lifeline
Hi y’all First thanks to all who have tried to help with this project I finally got my Renogy system up and running. 4 -100 watt panels on the roof. 30amp mppt controller, 2000w pure sine wave inve...
Forum Discussion
campigloo wrote:
Thanks for all the help guys.
I’m coming to the rude awakening that my hopes of having a plug and play system using my solar panels and good batteries is just a pipe dream. It’s becoming more and more evident that to get close to what I wanted flooded deep cycle marine batteries are the way to go.
Negative, on both your conclusions.
Flooded marine batteries are not really deep cycle - but you do want deep cycle, yes.
Solar is plug and play if you stay within its performance. If you can't, then get a generator, though from what you;re saying about your loads, I think you can.
Your Lifelines were not properly and/or fully charged. Most people know about high current requirements of this brand, this was one of the reasons why I didn't buy it. Get Dekka or Full River AGM, they won't be frustrated with 10-15A charging current. Probably cheaper in the long run than getting a questionable off-brand generator, not to mention the hassle. Your loads are low. People who have to run a generator (in addition to 400W solar) either camp in constantly bad weather with much forest like PNW or BC, or they need an air conditioner or they have installed a house-size 120V fridge.
You should be able to get away with 3*12V, total 300 AH bank.
And there are other things that you can do, to make it work. Shut the inverter down when not in use, run a cat heater instead of furnace (some people here will disagree with the last one). 160W is too high draw for a TV, these days. If you spend a lot of time watching it, consider getting more energy-efficient model that draws 30-40W.
