Many people think that to travel in a camper you have to give up the comforts of home, such as having electricity at any time to charge phones, watch a movie or even cook with an induction cooktop. Nothing could be further from the truth! Victron Energy has everything you need to turn your camper into a comfortable mobile home.
What do you need to travel comfortably and self-sufficiently?
In practice, you can get to consume about 70A per day taking into account all loads: refrigerator, mobile and laptop charging, lighting and even cooking with an induction cooktop. With this consumption, a 200Ah battery can give you up to 3 days of autonomy. This without recharging it with the solar panels or with the alternator while driving. If you have panels and the sun is shining on a good day, a battery will recharge relatively quickly, especially if it is lithium. Lithium batteries have a lower internal resistance during charging than lead-acid batteries, which makes them charge much faster. Recharging the latest 20% is particularly slow with lead-acid batteries due to the increased internal resistance.
To make things a little easier for you, we have prepared a list of essentials for the installation of lithium batteries in your camper.
LiFePO4 Battery Victron 12.8V-200Ah Smart: As we have explained before, it is not necessary to have a huge storage system. With 200Ah is enough to go for a few days without charging energy from the solar panels or through the alternator while driving. Of course, you will have to keep consumption to a minimum. If you want to have a longer autonomy, we recommend a second battery.
Inverter Multiplus 12/2000/80: For the consumption of a camper, including an induction hob for cooking, the continuous power of 1600 watts that a 2000VA inverter can give you is sufficient. Do you have more consumption because you use power tools and want to make sure your inverter meets the requirements? Then choose a Victron Multiplus 12/3000. The Multiplus series is very useful for systems with limited space because it combines inverter and battery charger in one unit.
Smart BMS Victron 12/200: The BMS is a special protection system for lithium batteries. It checks the condition of the battery, mainly the voltage of the cells and their temperature. The BMS can stop the battery charger (protecting it from overcharging) or cut off the supply to the consumers (if the battery becomes too discharged). In addition, the BMS will prevent charging if the temperature is too low or too high, to avoid damage to the battery.
Victron Smart Battery Protect 12/24V 220A: A battery protector is an electrical switch that cuts off the connection between the battery and all electrical consumers such as lighting and the refrigerator as soon as the battery drops below a certain voltage. This prevents the lithium battery from over-discharging. The battery protector works independently, but is best placed in combination with a BMV monitor to have a direct view of the battery status in real time.
Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30A DC-DC Converter: If you have two battery banks, as is common, and you want to charge the service battery via the camper alternator while driving, you must install a battery combiner. This prevents the starter battery from discharging and you cannot start the engine. However, if you use a lithium battery, you should install a DC/DC converter instead of a normal isolating relay. This prevents the alternator from overcharging the battery, the starter battery from discharging and also prevents the lithium battery from being charged with too high (or low) voltages that can damage the battery.
Victron BlueSolar 175W-12V monocrystalline solar panel: During the winter, or when the weather is bad, a panel produces less energy because it captures less light. A 500w panel installation is enough to produce the electricity needed to charge the batteries and power the minimum consumption. And, if that is not enough, you always have the option of charging the batteries with the alternator while driving if you do not have access to the grid.
Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 Regulator: an MPPT solar controller maximizes the energy collection of a solar panel and stores it in the battery, increasing the efficiency of your installation. The SmartSolar MPPT with bluetooth is slightly more expensive than the BlueSolar version without bluetooth, but it allows you to monitor performance, system data and all kinds of installation statistics on your smartphone, tablet or pc with the app. VictronConnect by Victron Energy
Digital Panel Victron Multicontrol 200/200A GX: This panel is used to turn the inverter on and off, but it is also very useful to set the current limit between two AC power sources. For example, if the campsite mains does not supply enough power for your consumption, you can indicate on the panel what maximum current it supplies. Whenever you switch on a device that exceeds the available mains power, the Victron Multiplus will add supplementary power using the PowerAssist function. Thus, you can use larger devices in your camper, even if the mains current of the campsite is not sufficient.
Everything for your camper with Victron Energy
As you can see, you don't need much to turn your vehicle into a mobile home. You just need a small investment, some patience and, above all, a lot of desire. We take care of the rest, we provide everything for your camper with Victron Energy.
