Reserve is the friendly number: 100% means the
batteries are full, 0% means you've used everything you should —
time to stop and let the sun refill them.
- The batteries are rated 675 Ah but are ~9 years old, so we count on
roughly 500 Ah actually being usable.
Reserve is based on that smaller, honest number.
- Lead-acid batteries shouldn't be drained past half — so 0% reserve
is set at the 50% mark, not truly empty.
- The power doesn't shut off at 0% — the inverter cuts out
when battery voltage falls to about 43 V, somewhat past the floor. But
past 0% the voltage drops fast and the shutoff can happen with little
warning.
- Big motors are special: starting the water pump can
briefly yank the voltage down to the cutoff even with healthy reserve —
that's a surge-power limit of old batteries, not empty batteries.
These are estimates, tuned conservatively. When in doubt, the status
banner at the top tells you what to do.