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RV

RV electrical systems: shore power, batteries, inverter and solar

Twelve volts, 120 or 230 volts, watts and amp-hours — how to size a power system that matches how you travel.

Short answer

An RV has two electrical systems. A 12-volt system runs the lights, the water pump, the furnace control board and the fridge on DC; an AC system runs the air conditioning, the microwave, the hair dryer and anything you plug in. Ashore, you connect to mains via a shore-power cable; off-grid, you generate with solar and store it in a battery, and an inverter turns the battery's 12 volts into 120 or 230 volts.

Verify before you rely on thisRules, limits and specifications change. Check with the official authority or the manufacturer for your vehicle, country and model year.

The short answer

An RV has two electrical systems. A 12-volt system runs the lights, the water pump, the furnace control board and the fridge on DC; an AC system runs the air conditioning, the microwave, the hair dryer and anything you plug in. Ashore, you connect to mains via a shore-power cable; off-grid, you generate with solar and store it in a battery, and an inverter turns the battery's 12 volts into 120 or 230 volts.

The single most common mistake is buying solar panels sized in watts while the battery is sized in amp-hours. Watts are an instantaneous rate; amp-hours are the storage you actually consume.

Shore power: the connector tells you the limit

In North America a campsite socket marked TT-30R delivers 120 volts at 30 amps for an RV, and a 50-amp serviced pitch delivers 120/240 volts split across two hot conductors, which is how a motorhome runs two air conditioners at once. In Europe the norm is a 220 to 240 volt domestic socket, commonly 16 amps, so the total load is smaller than most people expect and a European campsite outlet rarely runs a European RV's air conditioning. Check the socket before you plug in, and never use an unprovisioned adapter to draw more than the site offers.

Batteries: AGM versus lithium

AGM batteries are cheaper but you can only practically use about half of their stated capacity, because drawing them below 50 percent shortens their life badly; they also cannot deliver the sustained current a microwave or an inverter needs. Lithium iron phosphate batteries accept deep discharge, charge far faster and deliver their full usable capacity, at roughly two to four times the price. For any rig that spends real time off-grid, lithium is the system that stops being a compromise after the first season.

Solar, inverter and the rest

Solar sizing follows a simple rule: divide your daily watt-hours of consumption by good hours of sunshine, then multiply for the days you want to be self-sufficient, and allow about 20 percent for system losses. A 400-watt panel array feeding 400 amp-hours of lithium will cover most two-person off-grid use. An inverter should be sized for the peak load, with headroom: an 800-watt inverter runs a coffee machine but not an air conditioner. A battery monitor with a shunt is the cheapest insurance in the system, because you stop discovering the state of charge from a dead campsite.

Off-grid without a generator

If you camp without hookups regularly, the four things that matter are: enough battery, enough solar, efficient appliances (an induction or a calor gas camp stove instead of a microwave), and LED lighting throughout. A diesel or petrol generator is a fallback, not a plan, because the noise keeps you off the sites you came to.

Questions

The questions this guide raises, answered directly.

What size solar do I need?

Roughly: daily watt-hours consumed divided by an hour figure for sunshine, increased for the days you want off-grid and by about 20 percent for losses.

Is AGM or lithium better?

Lithium iron phosphate for anything beyond occasional use: usable capacity, faster charging and deeper discharge. AGM is fine for a small, cheap system that stays near full.

How many amps is a European campsite hookup?

Usually a 220 to 240 volt domestic socket at around 16 amps, so budget for less total load than a North American 30 or 50 amp pitch.

What does an inverter do?

It converts the 12-volt battery supply into 120 or 230 volts AC for appliances that need mains.

Sources and verification

Source
SourceRV industry standards forshore power connectors used in North America
SourceEuropean campsite hookup practice (220-240 V domestic sockets)
SourceBattery and inverter manufacturer specification sheets