For the first time in 12 1/2 years of living off my solar panels and batteries, I finally depleted my batteries last night. I’ve been close a few times, my experience has been that three days of stormy overcast was pretty much the limit for my system. Not generally a problem in the desert because three days of overcast is very unusual. But here in the Pacific Northwest during fall and winter, weeks of overcast is quite normal. I knew I wouldn’t last long if I stuck around here too long.
The converter usually charges the batteries in an RV when you are plugged in to the regular electrical grid, but I disconnected it 12 years ago. In other words, whether I have been on the grid or not, I still relied totally on my panels for battery charging.
This morning the refrigerator signaled low battery, and my standard for adequate battery voltage is whether the fridge’s control board can function. So I connected the converter back into the charging circuit. Major event.