Solar Rule Of Thumb....
I was wondering with so many variables is there a rule of thumb on how large of a solar system you need to keep your batteries charged so not having to run the generator. The factors I would includ...
Forum Discussion
Good point made above concerning number of cycles per year.
One important factor in going below 50% is if you have high inverter loads which pull down battery voltage when running those loads. As your SOC goes down so does the remaining AH capacity and you are more likely to trigger the inverter's low voltage alarm and eventual shut down. The batteries are still ok for lighter loads such as running the furnace, but you can't use the inverter anymore.
One way to solve that is to give the inverter its own battery bank and use another bank for the normal things. Now you can run those below 50% and everything still works.
One important factor in going below 50% is if you have high inverter loads which pull down battery voltage when running those loads. As your SOC goes down so does the remaining AH capacity and you are more likely to trigger the inverter's low voltage alarm and eventual shut down. The batteries are still ok for lighter loads such as running the furnace, but you can't use the inverter anymore.
One way to solve that is to give the inverter its own battery bank and use another bank for the normal things. Now you can run those below 50% and everything still works.
