RV Solar Battery Setup for Boondocking (12V LiFePO4)

RV Solar Battery Setup for Boondocking (12V LiFePO4) — Video + Full Guide

This page is the written companion to our YouTube walkthrough. If you prefer reading (or you want the checklist and math in one place), use this guide to pick a battery, estimate runtime, and avoid common solar mistakes.

Watch on YouTube: Family RV Living | More RV solar tips: RV Blog

Watch the video

Tip: Put the same URL in your YouTube description and pinned comment: https://familyrvliving.com/rv-solar-battery-setup-boondocking

Step 1: Estimate daily power use (watt-hours)

Ignore “amps” at first and get your daily total in watt-hours (Wh). It makes everything easier. Start with the stuff you actually run while boondocking and estimate hours per day.

Example daily load list (typical weekend boondocking)

12V fridge: ~40–80W average while cycling ? 700–1,500Wh/day (varies a lot by temperature)
LED lights: 10–30W total ? 50–150Wh/day
Vent fans: 10–40W ? 100–400Wh/day
Water pump: short bursts ? 20–80Wh/day
Phone/laptop charging: 50–200Wh/day

Your goal: a realistic daily total (example: ~1,400Wh/day). Don’t fake numbers to “justify” a battery size.

Step 2: Choose battery size (using usable Wh)

Battery capacity is easiest as Wh = Volts × Amp-hours. A “12V” LiFePO4 battery is typically ~12.8V nominal.

Common sizes (ballpark usable energy)

12V 100Ah ˜ 1,280Wh (usable ~1,000–1,150Wh after losses/settings)
12V 200Ah ˜ 2,560Wh (usable ~2,000–2,300Wh)
12V 280Ah ˜ 3,584Wh (usable ~2,900–3,200Wh)

If your daily use is ~1,400Wh/day and you want 2 days without recharge, you’re aiming for ~2,800Wh usable ? typically a 280Ah-class battery or two smaller batteries.

If you run high-watt devices (microwave, coffee maker, air fryer), plan around the inverter and surge draw. Battery size alone won’t fix an undersized inverter or wiring.

Step 3: Size solar + charge controller (simple rule)

Solar sizing depends on season, weather, and shade, but you can use a conservative rule: Daily solar Wh ˜ Panel Watts × Peak Sun Hours × 0.7 (the 0.7 accounts for real-world losses).

Example

400W panels × 4 peak sun hours × 0.7 ˜ 1,120Wh/day. If you use ~1,400Wh/day, 400W might be “almost enough” on good days and short on cloudy days. That’s why many setups move toward 600W–800W if roof space allows.

Your MPPT controller must match your panel configuration (series/parallel) and current limits. “Close enough” is how you get chronic undercharging.

Step 4: Inverter sizing (don’t guess)

Size the inverter for what you actually run. Then ensure your battery + wiring can supply the current. Big loads at 120V become big current at 12V.

Back-of-napkin current draw

A 1,000W appliance can pull roughly: 1,000W ÷ 12V ˜ 83A (and more after inverter losses). That’s why fusing, cable gauge, and connections matter.

Top mistakes that break RV solar setups

No real load estimate ? battery dies early, you blame the battery.
Undersized wiring/fuses ? voltage drop, heat, nuisance shutdowns.
Wrong solar wiring (series/parallel mismatch) ? controller never performs as expected.
Hiding the transcript on YouTube only ? your website page stays thin and doesn’t rank.
No internal links ? Google can’t tell which page is your “solar hub.”

FAQ

What size LiFePO4 battery is enough for weekend boondocking?

If you’re mostly running 12V basics (fridge/lights/fans/pump/charging), 200Ah–280Ah is a common range. If you add cooking appliances via inverter, you may need more capacity and heavier wiring.

Do I need 400W, 600W, or 800W of solar?

Choose panels based on your daily Wh and realistic sun hours. If your daily use is close to what you can produce on a good day, you’ll have bad days where you lose ground. Extra panel wattage is often the cheapest reliability upgrade if you have space.

Full transcript

Best practice: paste your full YouTube transcript here (cleaned up). This is a major SEO lever because it turns the video into indexable text.

Show transcript

[00:00] Today we’re breaking down a simple way to size your RV battery and solar setup for boondocking without wasting money...

[00:38] First, list what you actually run each day. Your fridge is usually the big one, and it changes with temperature...

[01:22] Once you have daily watt-hours, you can convert battery sizes into usable energy. A 12V 280Ah battery is roughly 3,584Wh...

[02:10] Next is solar. Real-world output is not panel watts times sun hours. Losses add up, so we use a conservative multiplier...

[03:05] If you want to run a microwave or air fryer, your inverter and wiring matter just as much as battery capacity...

(Continue until the transcript is complete. A full transcript often runs 1,500–3,000+ words depending on video length.)