Starting with Battery Backup

[n4pgw]

Yep, and "saving the battery" in this case means saving you from hugely degenerative *chemical* degradation. BUT, you are still killing cycle life badly if you get to this point.

Essentially what happens when you deep-discharge is that the acid in the electrolyte is largely water, and grid-corrosion escalates rapidly. That, along with a large amount of sulfation - which if left too long hardens for a double-whammy, buckling / warping the plates, and so forth. Do NOT rely on the LVD, at either 10.5 or 11.5v as your daily discharge recovery routine. It is a dead-man switch mainly.

At this point, I am only using this system as a UPS to the grid power. I don't expect to deep discharge the battery until the power fails for over two hours.

Controller are rated for the solar INPUT, since the output is ideally being drawn from the battery directly. LOAD terminals are value-added low-current options for dinky stuff. Dinky stuff, like the lights in your swr bridge.

According to Renogy, It can handle 30 amps on the load connectors.

Are you using the right gauge to avoid excessive voltage drop? Are you measuring voltages *at the battery terminals*, and not just at the output of the controller? Consult solar wiring charts to stay under 2% drop. Note the difference between "one way" and "two way" charts - ie point to point, or out-and-back lengths.

I haven't measured the voltage drop. I am running #10 wire from the charger to the battery and from the battery to the charge controller. Each wire is between 8 and 10 feet long.

In my plan for the computer UPS, I will have the battery within 3 feet of the controller and/or inverter. I'll have one or two 100 watt solar panels connected to help charge the battery bank or relieve the power supply during sunlight.

And we still don't know what batteries you are running, unless I missed it.

A lot of stuff is getting thrown out to the wall to see if it sticks here instead of getting all the variables nailed down first. Makes for super-lengthy threads.

The battery is a 105 AH marine battery for this setup. I am planning to add one battery early next year. This Spring I plan to add two 100 watt solar panels to help charge the bank. At least that's my plans for now.

[Sunking]

I'll have one or two 100 watt solar panels connected to help charge the battery bank or relieve the power supply during sunlight.

WRONG. You are only fooling yourself. As long as the Power Supply is online, the solar system is just collecting dust. The stiffest source of power (power source at highest energy state) will supply all the power at all times. The only time solar will do anything is when the Power Supply is off/disconnected and you have bright sun. Other than that is does NOTHING. With a properly sized battery you can operate several days without any power. .

Using your Renogy load terminal is going to bite you in the butt. It is not a matter of IF, but a matter of WHEN.