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Topic: Solar Panels and the Concept of Separate Chassis/House Batteries (Read 1658 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Solar Panels and the Concept of Separate Chassis/House Batteries

Reply #20 –
The use of solar panels and battery bank needs really depends on what one is doing and how many people are using the solar equipment. If you are a full time boondocker like some of us, you will cycle your house batteries daily, 365 days a year. Starting batteries, be they D8's or any other size, were not designed for this purpose and will not last. If one uses more that 50% of a battery's capacity on a regular basis it will not last as long as it could.
If you are in a cold climate, your needs will be different that someone who is in a warm climate but regardless of where you are, how many solar panels you have and how many batteries you have, the shorter daylight hours of winter mean less solar output.
IMHO, the house batteries should definitely be deep cycle and operate separately from the starting battery