Very well written.
I would like to add something with batteries. Common questions with batteries, are Gel, conventional, start, deep cycle etc...
Whichever way you decide to go with a battery, be very aware there can be quite big differences between 'Brands' of battery of the same specification.
Personal experience antidote here.
We imported a variable message sign on a trailer or from a company in China to evaluate. One of the first things we noticed was the batteries unable to give us 4 continuous days of running.
What ensued was, adding an extra solar panel, replacing the solar panel controller to an Australian unit that was reliable and maximised the available amps. Re-wiring from the solar panels to the batteries completely as the wiring was undersized and overheating.
Checking the batteries and finding them to be below acceptable condition.
We replaced with the same size and specification but a quality brand.
As we removed the old batteries and replaced the new, we noticed a weight difference as we lifted them. So we weighed them, the difference was 7 kg per battery.
That weight difference is lead, which explained the poor performance of the batteries.
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