Rob, basically no.
Achieving ideal requires a human to vary the variables and a solar controller which allows one to vary those variables.
If the batteries are only lightly cycled infrequently, it becomes much less important.
When deeply cycled every day it becomes more important.
Achieving ideal is not paramount, unless one wants to really maximize the amount of cycles from their batteries.
it is not as if unideal will yield 25 cycles when Ideal could be 1000.
It is more like marginal can achieve 150 deep cycles and Ideal would be perhaps 1000.
My electrical related posts on this forum will always outline what would be Ideal, for maximum battery longevity, and trying to keep misinformation from becoming repeated, or incorrect assumptions to proliferate, or to counter act the 'works just fine for me (so far, No idea really) will work just fine for you too'.
Say Achieving Ideal might cost 1000$ in parts and a hundred hours of labor over that maximum battery lifespan
When achieving good enough costs 250 $ in parts at 2 hours of labor( simply replacing the batteries)
it would take a long time, if ever for that ideal system to pay off, unless the goal is bragging rights.
And lets face it, bragging rights are usually Lies. i mean afterall My van is so special and so highly tuned, i can get 50MPG at 100 Mph, and the exhaust smells like roses. They sing songs in the hills about my magical proclivities and accomplishments, and I am hung like a porn star and my ability to employ oneupmanship has no upper limit and i always win, and get what I want when i want.
Reality is so sad in comparison.
Reality is that when I sit in front of this laptop for as much as I currrently do, My solar and alternator( lack of driving) cannot meet my power requirements. I can and Do plug into the grid, and am currently attempting to extend the Time my 3+ year old 450+ deep cycle battery lasts, by rarely cycling it deeply and keeping it full. Perhaps once a week. My plug in charger can achieve ideal, but requires that I spin a voltage dial at the proper time. (The Horror!)
If I were actively travelling, I would not be on the laptop much at all, and would have no issues returning battery to full, and in fact have power surplus, and in summer usually do have a surplus even not driving much and not plugged in.
I would like another 100 watts on my roof, but there is not room to add another 100.
But all my charging sources have variable voltage. Solar, Alternator and grid powered charger can all be influenced to do my wishes, allowing me to extract maximum value from top quality lead acid batteries.
