Monitoring My DIY Home Solar System Battery Bank

Having recently completed the first stages of my DIY home solar garage project, I wanted to make a more permanent fixture for monitoring the battery bank. Currently I am using a multimeter, connected to the load side of the charge controller. And when I want to check the battery bank voltage, I switch the load connections to on and switch on my multimeter.

This works ok but ties up the load side of the charge controller, which I want to use for LED lighting. Using the mode switch on the charge controller I can switch the lights on/off at set intervals, which will be ideal for security lighting around the outside of my garage.

And so, I ordered myself some cheap and cheerful 12v LED volt meters, along with a small toggle switch. I mounted the volt meter in the faceplate which you saw on the previous video, using a Dremmel tool to cut out the hole to mount the meter in. And with the addition of the toggle switch and some wiring... Hey Presto !... An easy to use battery bank voltage indicator, which can be switched on or off as and when required, to save battery. I did find that if I left the meter on continuously it would drain the battery (slowly). I have also added a UK Plug Power Energy Analyzer, which I can use to check how many watts an appliance is using (which is handy) and also how much money I am saving by running appliances on my home solar garage system.