Network RV Caravan Lithium Off-Grid Setup

We recently completed a full off-grid setup in a Network RV caravan, where we fitted a 400ah lithium system, 2,600watt inverter, and 720watts of solar.

Under the bed inside the caravan is where we installed the entire off-grid setup. It only takes up half of the under-bed space, so there’s still some room left over for storage. There's also room on top of the system as well, which the customer could also use for storage space. 

2x ENERDRIVE 200ah B-TEC LITHIUM BATTERIES:

We installed two Enerdrive B-TEC lithium batteries. They're both 200ah lithium batteries, so 400ah of lithium power in total.

Enerdrive’s B-TEC batteries provide 60% more useable power than lead batteries, whilst being almost 50% lighter and 30% smaller.

The batteries can not only be replaced easily, but also give the customer assurance of safety. Lithium batteries are designed to keep the batteries from being either over-charged or over-discharged, making them ideal for caravans.

1x ENERDRIVE 2600WATT TRANSFER INVERTER:

We also installed the Enerdrive 2600watt transfer inverter.

In a nutshell, the inverter takes the 12-volt power stored in the batteries and converts it to 240-volt power, so all PowerPoints can be used inside the caravan, and run appliances.

Because it’s 2,600watts, there will be no issues running the air conditioning system, toasters, kettles, induction cook tops, air fryers coffee machines, charging laptops etc.

1x 45AMP MORNINGSTAR TRI-STAR SOLAR CONTROLLER & 1x ENERDRIVE 40AMP DC-DC CHARGER:

We also installed a 45amp Morningstar Tri-Star Solar Controller. We installed 480watt solar panels on the roof of the caravan, which feeds straight through to the Solar Controller.

We also added in the Enerdrive 40amp DC-DC charger. The reason we do the DC2DC & Solar Controller is so while the customer is driving, if they are charging from the car's alternator, they’ll get dual input. So, they’ll get input from the alternator via the DC-DC charger, and they’ll also get input from the solar panels on the roof via the solar regulator.

We also wire up an external solar input, but that is run into the DC-DC charger. So, what that means is if the caravan is in a shady spot, you can plug an external panel into the external solar input that's on the outside of the caravan, and you'll still get solar input from the fixed panels on the roof, plus the external portable panel.

We always are really conscious of making sure our customers are getting the best input into their batteries under various conditions. So, cloudy driving, we want to provide the max input at any point in time.

1x 60AMP ENERDRIVE SMART BATTERY AC CHARGER

The third way of charging the system is then via an Enerdrive 60amp AC Charger, so that is taking main's power from your house, or from the caravan park, and you plug it in to a power point and you get - charge your batteries via the 240-volt AEC charger. 

1x ENERDRIVE ePRO BATTERY MONITOR:

We installed the Enerdrive ePro Battery Monitor screen inside the caravan’s control panel area for the customer to easily keep tabs on their batteries.  

Features;

• Shows the true state of charge of your battery system
• Monitors up to three battery banks
• Measures DC currents up to 600Amps (500Amp Continuous)
• Monitors any lead or lithium-based battery from 12V up to 48V

INVERTER ON/OFF SWITCH:

Also in the control panel area is the inverter on/off switch. All the customer needs to do is hold down the power button for a couple of seconds until a beep is made, and that’s when you know that everything is up and running.

As always, if you do have any questions or feedback, drop them in the comments below. Watch the full video of the Network RV Caravan by clicking here.