Solar Panels 101
Compare solar panels: mounted vs. unmounted, solid vs. flexible, their manufacturers, dimensions, laminate, and junction box placement.
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Using A Battery Management System (BMS)
A battery management system (BMS) is an electrical component that enables a pack of individual battery cells to operate as one. It protects individual cells, safeguards against extreme conditions, and is essential for multi-cell stacks such as ours.
Cell Balancing
Before assembling our DIY lithium battery we are optimizing our battery cells for solar panel charging by top balancing our battery cells.
Assembling A Custom Lithium Battery
When we first stripped the electrical system out of our 1970 Avion C11 truck camper, it was still in the days of acid cell batteries. Lithium cell batteries were on the market but outside of the budget of most any RV owners, including us. But in subsequent years, lithium has not only became a viable choice but also the rational choice for most RV builds. With our extended history of meticulous build projects, this wasn't going to be a simple upgrade. No, we decided to develop our lithium batteries. (You can read more about our thinking on that point in our articles Best Camper Battery and What To Know When Choosing A Lithium Battery For An RV)
Parallel vs. Series: Connecting Cells To Build A Battery
Learn how to connect 3.2V 180Ah LiFePO4 battery cells in parallel & series to build the optimal voltage potential and amp-hours for our DIY lithium battery.
What To Know When Choosing A Lithium Battery For An RV
Learn the ins and outs of battery chemistry, voltage, amperage, and dimensions to pick out the ideal Lithium Iron Phosphate battery for your camper.
Best Camper Battery
Weighing the pros and cons between lead acid and lithium batteries such as wet cell, gel cell, AGM, and LiFePO4 to pick the best camper battery.
Boondocking Power
An important part in optimizing one's electrical system for boondocking is knowing what one's consumptions will be. If one already has the experience of being on the road, all one needs to do is monitor one's consumption. Sure, we have been nomads for 2 years. But that has been a matter of cooking over camp fires and working in coffee shops, libraries, or truck stops. To guess at our battery usage with all the conveniences of an RV, we an run the numbers to get a vague idea of what is to come.
Charging A Laptop on 12 Volts
I bought my MacBook Air back in 2013 because it was lightweight and had a long battery life. Yet, no matter how long that battery life may be, it’s never going to be long enough to not require recharging while…
Wiring From Scratch
In which I tackle everything electrical in a truck camper or RV: batteries, converters, inverters, fuse boxes, surge protectors, wire gauges, and much more.