We do the sizing math before we recommend anything

What Volt Brook is

Volt Brook is an independent research and review site covering the parts that make up a do it yourself solar or backup power system. Solar panels, charge controllers, batteries, battery chargers, inverters, and the wiring and fusing that ties them together.

We were built around one observation. Almost every buying guide in this space hands you a ranked list of products and never once asks what you are actually trying to power. That is backwards. In a DC power system every part has to match the part beside it, so a recommendation that ignores your array voltage, your daily load, or your battery chemistry is not a recommendation at all. It is a guess with a buy button attached.

So we start with the sizing question. How many watt hours do you use in a day. What voltage is your bank. What does the controller have to pass on the coldest morning of the year. Once those numbers exist, choosing a product becomes straightforward, and you can check our reasoning instead of taking our word for it.

What we cover

• Home solar power systems. How a complete system fits together, from the first panel to the last fuse, for vans, cabins, sheds, boats, and household outage backup.
• Comparisons and buying choices. MPPT against PWM, lithium iron phosphate against AGM, pure sine against modified sine, and the other head to head calls that decide where your money goes.
• Installation, DIY and wiring guides. Wire gauge, fusing, series and parallel wiring, grounding, and mounting, written so you can follow them with the parts in front of you.
• Solar battery basics. Chemistry, depth of discharge, cycle life, charging profiles, and what cold weather really does to a bank.
• Reviews. Component by component picks, once you know the size you need.

How we research, and what that means

Everything published on Volt Brook is research based. We build our conclusions from three sources, and we say which one a claim came from wherever it matters:

• Manufacturer specifications, datasheets, and published installation manuals.
• Published standards and code references, including the National Electrical Code where wiring, conductor sizing, and overcurrent protection are involved.
• Verified owner reports, which we use for reliability and real world behaviour, and which we weigh against the documentation rather than above it.

What we will never do

• Invent testing we did not perform, or describe a product as if we had used it.
• Publish a fabricated author name, credential, or qualification.
• Accept payment for a favourable review, a ranking position, or an inclusion.
• Use fake urgency, countdown timers, or invented stock counts to push a purchase.
• Recommend a product without also stating who should skip it.

Who this site is for

If you are wiring a first system and you are not certain the numbers add up, this site is for you. If your AGM bank has died and you need to know what replaces it without redesigning everything, this site is for you. If you want the fridge to stay on during an outage and you have no off grid ambitions at all, this site is for you too.

If you are a licensed electrician or a professional installer, you will probably find our explainers a little slow. That is deliberate. We would rather over explain than have a reader guess at a fuse size.

How we pay for this

Volt Brook earns commission through affiliate programs, principally the Amazon Associates program. When you buy something through one of our links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. This never changes what we recommend or how a product is ranked, and every affiliate link on the site is marked as sponsored. The full details are on our Affiliate Disclosure page.

Corrections

Specifications change, manufacturers revise datasheets, and we make mistakes like anyone else. If you spot something wrong, tell us at hello@voltbrook.com and we will check it against the source and correct the page. Corrections are the fastest way to make this site better, and we genuinely welcome them.