zlacker

>>bookof+(OP)
So living on a narrowboat in the UK this is something I have experience with. We have a 335 W panel with an MPPT connected to a 200 Ah 12 V flooded lead acid battery. The battery in reality has a capacity of half that and in the 6 years of seasonality it has probably halved.

A few things :

* you don't need a fridge in winter so you can just turn it off. * charging battery banks / laptops in sunny periods results in the battery bank being useful in times when the weather isn't so kind. * no amount of solar is enough in the deep of winter. * any amount of solar is too much in the height of summer. * pubs are great for charging devices. * lead acid batteries last substantially longer if you only let them drop to half their true capacity and regularly charge them. Yes alternatives exist but there's something to be said for making what you have work for as long as possible.

>>marksb+ll
Made me search narrowboats and that sounds like a neat lifestyle! Here in the US there are people who live on houseboats in lakes like Lake Cumberland (Kentucky), and that’s probably the closest thing we have.

Have you thought about micro wind turbines? I wonder if those would provide some power in the winter just to charge phones and laptops.

>>api+kI1
Their output is fairly low due to surrounding trees and housing. I did consider wind for heating water however. That might be feasible with a large enough savonius turbine.