LiFePo and Solar in an RV
If you’ve followed along on our Lifepo journey for the sailboat, you know we LOVED the upgrade! So, of course it made sense to put lithium in the RV and make similar changes to Lolo. But this go round, we entered the arena with a wee bit more experience. Honestly, that’s not saying much – since we started with pretty much zero experience for Luna Sea 1’s power system…
We hit the 2020 Miami Boat Show and visited all of the related booths. Some business cards were exchanged – but there was no enthusiasm behind the product. It seemed like our project was just too small to garner any attention. And really, for most booths, the main focus was not lithium. They were still pushing AGM/gel/lead acid Old School batteries. (I tend to vacillate between “lithium” and “LiFePo” when I type/speak about these batteries, but just know I am referring to the same product: LiFePo⁴)
That is, until we found the Battle Born booth. The guys were excited for us to stop and chat – and SUPER enthusiastic about their product. Turns out the owner was actually one of the people we spent the most time chatting with – and both Sean and Eric were full of great ideas for our specific rig set up. They knew all about putting LiFePo in an RV, and have helped loads of sailors and RV’ers alike get into the Lithium Game.
It didn’t take much convincing to get us onboard the Battle Born team. They are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their products and the batteries are put together here in the U.S. They also sell Victron components. And after trying both Morning Star and Victron on Luna Sea 1, we KNEW we would stay in the Victron family for future purchases. And boy did we. Check out the list of below to see what all we purchased to get LiFePo up and running in our RV.
1999 Rialta QD Off-Grid Set Up
- 200 Ah Lifepo from Battle Born
- Solar – 190 watt panel from Amazon
- Victron components:
- Multiplus Compact Inverter/Charger 12/2000/80-50 120v
- Victron BAM030712000R Battery Monitor with Bluetooth
- Victron Digital Multi Control 200/200A
- Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30A (360W) Isolated DC-DC Charger
- SmartSolar MPPT 100/20
We’ve been hanging out with family in Oklahoma for the past several weeks. We sleep in the RV and use most of the systems. (We are not crazy enough to say no to real showers and cooking full meals in the house) And as we prep for our first official trip post-install, I can tell you that so far, we are SUPER happy with the set up! The batteries power all of our gear, including our new fridge. When we’re sitting still for several days, the solar keeps them mostly full. (The solar doesn’t quite keep up, but almost, and we figured that would be the case…) When we’re on the move, the DC to DC charger does the job. Overall, we are extremely happy with the system Battle Born helped us design!
If this post is starting to sound like a commercial for Battle Born – well, I guess it has kind of evolved into that. Because we are SO happy with the customer service AND the product, we happily agreed to jump into their Affiliate Program. This means that if YOU decide to purchase from them, just click a link here or on our Partners page – or shoot, just tell them on the phone that Sailing Luna Sea sent you. It won’t cost you a dime, and we will get a small kick back for the referral.
CLICK HERE for Mark’s install video – so you can see more of what/how we did this project. We have several Catamarans we are checking out over the next few weeks – which means ROAD TRIP in the Rialta! While we have had an amazing time here with family, we’re ready for some new adventures. Thanks as always for your comments and shares! See you next time.
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Very informative but mostly just glad to see y’all and hear your voices 😁😉♥️♥️🙋