diy solar

diy solar

Class A Battery and Solar Upgrade

TurbineTester

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Joined
Apr 1, 2021
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I have an RV with two BattleBorn 100Ah batteries in parrellel and a Magnum 3000W pure sine inverter. I am wanting to be able to store much more power and be able to run more equipment from the batteries for extended boondocking with minimal generator use. Solar panels are going to be another thread. Since this is about putting the batteries in a mobile setup i'm asking this question here, though i'll take no offense if mods feel like this questino belongs in another sub-forum. Currently with only 2 batteries the microwave will trip the overcurrent settings and i'd like to potentially be able to run our AC system. I was watching this video
where Will talks about the $385 (280Ahx4) batteries Eve/Lishen cells. At the time he posted the videos, and i watched around the time of the posting, the price had gone up to $433. Now, as i was getting ready to place an order I'm seeing that the same link has gone up in price to over $530, nearly a $150 per 12v pack above what was originally posted. I was hoping to get around 16 cells (4 packs), to run either a 48V system(requiring me to upgrade lots of stuff) or potentially run 4x12vx280 Ah in parrallel for 1000+ Ah of capacity in RV. Are these still the best bang for the buck? I see some other retailers listed in the video description, but they seem to have dubious stock/review/quality...This is my first post here so I hope i'm askign teh right questions in the right place. Thank you each in advance for any help or advice.
 
LFP supply chains are challenged right now due to COVID and the recent week long Suez Canal closure. Expect unreliable delivery dates and higher prices for a while. I think the LFP group buy that is on this site is a good way to go.
 
Pick a couple battery options and when one becomes available jump on it. Who knows the future of availability or pricing. SOK was out of stock for a few months, it came in and they sold out in like a week.
 
OK, I'm going to reach out to Machael Caro about getting in on a group buy for the Lishen cells i guess. What do you guys think about the 12v vs 48v setup? The advantage of the 48v setup seems to be that i can use a single BMS, and lower gauge wires for everything. But i would have to replace my 12v Magnum Inverter and probably figure otu a way to deal with all the 12v wiring. What would be the downsides of keeping the system a 12v system?
 
Higher voltage uses smaller wire and the controllers can handle more panel wattage.
That said, I stuck with 12v because my coach has such an extensive 12v wiring system it was a lot of work to make that change.
 
I stuck with 12v in my toy hauler. I have too many 12v higher amp loads to go away from 12v. I didn't want to have to implement multiple step down converters to power those loads.

Depending on how much room you have it can be easier to place multiple 12v batteries than a single 48v battery.

When camping, on a daily basis I don't look at the BMS. Instead, I look at my Victron BMV-712 to see the state of charge. I do review the BMS for each battery about every couple of months, to verify the cells are still in balance.
 
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