Haven't set anything up yet. Amazon has most of the gear out for delivery today (3 100w renogy panels) and the controller (Rich Solar 40amp MPPT). I purchased two Duracell GC2 6v golf cart batteries that will be running in series for 12v.
Question 1: How concerned should I be about off gassing/venting. Can I set the batteries up in my office? It's a decent size 16x20 so not super cramped. Is this a go, no-go, or *go-but-ensure-I-do/consider.....?
Question 2 is a complex question around expanding the battery bank (eventually) as funds permit to add more battery and panels. (I would like to eventually add two more golf cart batteries.) I understand running in parallel is a no-go and absolutely last resort, so I'm wondering if there's a turn key gadget out there that would allow me to setup two independent banks off the same controller/inverter? E.g. able to switch which bank the controller is charging, which bank the inverter is using (independent of each other). From what I've been reading I'm not seeing anything like that. May be easier to just sell the 12v inverter and buy a 24v once I'm ready to expand. What do you guys think?
Requirements for the current 2 battery setup is minimal: low draw items like laptop, rechargeable batteries, small fans. I'd like to eventually expand to two more golf cart batteries (4 total) to add a small chest freezer.
Question 1: How concerned should I be about off gassing/venting. Can I set the batteries up in my office? It's a decent size 16x20 so not super cramped. Is this a go, no-go, or *go-but-ensure-I-do/consider.....?
Question 2 is a complex question around expanding the battery bank (eventually) as funds permit to add more battery and panels. (I would like to eventually add two more golf cart batteries.) I understand running in parallel is a no-go and absolutely last resort, so I'm wondering if there's a turn key gadget out there that would allow me to setup two independent banks off the same controller/inverter? E.g. able to switch which bank the controller is charging, which bank the inverter is using (independent of each other). From what I've been reading I'm not seeing anything like that. May be easier to just sell the 12v inverter and buy a 24v once I'm ready to expand. What do you guys think?
Requirements for the current 2 battery setup is minimal: low draw items like laptop, rechargeable batteries, small fans. I'd like to eventually expand to two more golf cart batteries (4 total) to add a small chest freezer.