Article library
Solar planning guides
Practical articles that connect small solar goals to parts, numbers, limits, and safety decisions.
Your Solar System Underperforms: A Diagnostic Order of Operations
A measurement-based decision tree for diagnosing four common solar complaints, with the ordered tests that isolate voltage drop, panel faults, mismatch, and charge-acceptance limits.
Solar for Cameras, Gates, and Remote Sensors: Sizing for Tiny Loads
Why very small 24/7 solar loads are harder to size than big ones: worst-month sizing, controller self-consumption, the December problem, oversizing the array over the battery, and freeze protection.
Grounding and Bonding a Small Off-Grid DC System
Equipment grounding versus system bonding versus earthing, floating versus bonded DC negatives, and why local code should override generic advice here.
Panel Tilt and Orientation: Optimising for the Season That Matters
Why off-grid systems should size tilt for the worst month rather than the annual average, latitude-based tilt rules and their limits, and ground versus roof mount tradeoffs.
Charging LiFePO4 Below Freezing: What Actually Goes Wrong
The lithium plating mechanism behind LiFePO4's cold-charging limit, how manufacturer cutoffs differ, and how lead-acid's very different freezing-point constraint compares.
PV Wire, MC4 Connectors, and Battery Cable: Choosing the Right Conductor
How PV wire, USE-2, THHN/THWN-2, welding cable, and marine battery cable differ, and why MC4 connectors from different brands are a documented fire hazard.
MPPT vs PWM Charge Controllers: When the Extra Cost Pays for Itself
What PWM and MPPT controllers actually do to panel voltage, when the price gap between them is worth paying, and when MPPT stops being optional.
Wiring Panels in Series or Parallel: Voltage, Current, and Shade Tradeoffs
How series and parallel panel wiring change voltage, current, wire size, and shading behavior, and when parallel strings need their own fuses.
Sizing an Inverter: Why the Biggest One Is Usually the Wrong Choice
Continuous versus surge rating, the hidden cost of idle draw, and why a 2000 W inverter can waste more power than it delivers on a small solar system.
The Load Audit: The One Step That Decides Every Other Number
How to build a real load table with watts, hours, and duty cycle, measure actual draw instead of trusting nameplate ratings, and set a design buffer without padding a solar system three times over.
A Maintenance Log for Small Solar Systems
What to record in a solar maintenance log and why each entry has diagnostic value later, with chemistry-specific intervals, torque re-checks, and a usable log template.
Solar Panel Placement: A Simple Shading Check Before You Mount
Why partial shading costs disproportionately more than the shaded area suggests, what bypass diodes do and do not fix, and how to survey a site for shade without special equipment.
12 V vs 24 V Solar Systems: When Higher Voltage Helps a Small Build
Why current, not power, sets wiring cost, with a worked comparison of a 1200 W load at 12 V, 24 V, and 48 V showing current, wire size, and copper cost.
How to Size a Solar Charge Controller for a Small Off-Grid Project
Size a charge controller by array current and array voltage, including the cold-weather Voc rise that turns a nameplate-safe array into an overvoltage fault.
DIY Solar Pre-Flight Checklist: What to Verify Before First Power-On
A sequential commissioning procedure for small solar systems: polarity, torque, fuse ratings, energization order, and what to check at one hour, one day, and one week.
How to Size a Small Solar Battery Bank Without Overspending
A sizing method for small off-grid battery banks: how days of autonomy drive cost, why an oversized lead-acid bank can shorten its own life, and how to match array output to charge acceptance.
Cabin Solar Backup Power Wall: What to Plan Before Mounting Gear
Planning a cabin power wall for a building nobody occupies most months: self-discharge, freeze risk, seasonal battery chemistry, equipment layout, ventilation, surge loads, and the generator question.
RV Solar Wiring Checklist: Fuses, Disconnects, and Cable Routes
A sequential RV solar wiring checklist built on ABYC E-11: engine-space derating, the 7-inch fuse rule, disconnect placement, and chafe protection.
A Practical Starter Plan for a Shed Solar System
A complete shed solar system derived step by step: load table, battery, array, controller, inverter, wire gauge, and fuse sizing, with every number worked on the page.
Battery Runtime Math: Why Nameplate Watt-Hours Are Not the Whole Story
How depth of discharge, inverter loss, idle draw, Peukert's effect, temperature, and aging turn a battery's nameplate watt-hours into a much smaller honest runtime number.
Seven RV Solar Mistakes That Make Small Systems Feel Weak
Seven RV solar mistakes explained by mechanism, symptom, and confirming measurement — from undersized cable and wrong charge profiles to alternator charging assumptions that fail on LiFePO4.
Voltage Drop in Low-Voltage Solar Wiring: A Plain-English Guide
What voltage drop physically is, why it dominates 12 V and 24 V design, how to measure it with a multimeter, and the three levers that actually fix it.