A Rooney wrote: I guess I am buying into the HandyBob take that higher voltages tend to force more amps in as the batteries upper levels (that's where I live,
Just to be clear, that's the absorption stage of charging on a lead-acid battery, which is generally from 85% full to 100% full. It's not just a Bob theory, but is just how lead-acid batteries accept charge. I called it the "eye of the needle" stage. Most batteries at that point want around 14.4 volts, and this stage is voltage limited when you have it set up on a smart charger. What that means is that the charger (which could be a shore charger, solar controller, etc.) will hold the voltage at 14.4 (or whatever the equivalent voltage is if the batteries are above or below 77º F) and the amps going in will slowly (oh, so agonizingly), slowly taper until the batteries are fully charged, at which point the charger will go into the float stage. This absorption stage can take hours, which is why it's a good time to use solar vs. generator, but also why on shorter days or partially cloudy days one may spend most of the day absorbing (on solar).
That's one of the attractions of lithium batteries. No absorb stage! So it's just bulk charge, bulk charge, bulk charge all the time unless/until they are full. Imagine the effectiveness of the same amount of solar if there was no hours-long absorption stage. And then just to make them more tempting, they don't even care about getting to 100% charged, AND can be discharged to 20% SOC.
So a person's 200#, 300 amp-hour battery bank just became a 75#, 150 amp-hour battery bank, and the four-five hours a day (or whatever) that was formerly spent in absorb putting in a tiny number of amps can now be full speed charging (yet without caring if they get to 100%). They are still a bit "early adopter," and of course they have some downsides, but their future looks bright. But still not for everyone (can't charge them below freezing, they don't tolerate heat well, they die completely if certain things are done to them, etc.).
You make a good point in that a good system is one that works well for the batteries and for the Chinook owner. Hence why use-case scenario is key, along with the mindset of the user. My 200 watts, set up to be as efficient as I can reasonably make it, is an absolute joy for me and makes my life a lot more comfortable than without it. But someone who wanted to run a microwave, air-conditioner, or big inverter on a regular basis would have a woefully inadequate system if they copied my setup.
