Now that we've been going out camping in the CTC for a little over a year, we've learned a few things. One big lesson we learned was that our one battery was not enough! While it's sometimes a nice luxury to camp where we can plug in, there are just too many awesome camping opportunities in the boondocks. That sort of camping -- more space, fewer people, less traffic, etc., is what really appeals to us. Our one battery was not enough for boondocking, so we're upgrading the battery storage and preparing to add solar. We're really excited about these changes!
We're replacing our single AGM battery with two six volt golf cart batteries, which we're running in series. This will give us 230 amps, which is more than double what we previously had.
We're putting them into this battery box which fits into the cabinet where the old battery was.
The battery box came from amazon, and is here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NNMZC3R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We modified the box with a battery box vent so we can vent it outdoors. Then we ran flexible battery vent hose tubing out to the exterior vent. The battery box vent kit is from amazon, here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ON29N7C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We've ordered the solar panels, and they should be here next week. We already installed the MPPT Solar Controller. We decided to mount it just above the kitchen countertop, on the side wall next to the door. It's directly above the batteries and is easy to see, but it's still fairly inconspicuous.
The controller also came from amazon, and is here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GGPQD1W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We're really excited about these upgrades and are looking forward to the additional freedom and flexibility they should give us.