As we embark on our first full season with the SpaceCamper, we are already adding a few key accessories.
The trailer came with 2 80Ah AGM batteries, and 300W of roof top solar with an integrated Victron Energy Blue Solar MPPT 150/35 charger.
Unfortunately, this is not enough power for the SpaceCamper in anything but ideal conditions. With the industry moving from dual-fuel (electricity + propane) refrigerators to pure electric, the power draw on days that you are not getting full sun on the roof top solar will quickly result in a depleted battery. This is especially true if you are running the furnace at night (while it uses propane to heat, the fans is still a big energy draw).
While we knew we wanted to upgrade the AGM batteries to lithium eventually, we wanted a quick and versatile solution right away.
There are a lot of good choices in the portable battery space, with solid offerings from EcoFlow, Jackery, GoalZero and more.
We ended up selecting the EcoFlow Delta 2 MAX with a 400W portable solar briefcase for $2,000. This provides us with 2kWh of power (more than double the house battery total capacity, and close to 4x its usable capacity).
While directly upgrading the SpaceCamper batteries would have been less expensive, this solution gave us several key advantages.
- The Delta 2 MAX could be used to power the entire SpaceCamper, including non-inverter outlets at 2,400W, significantly higher than the built in 1,000W inverter.
- The Delta 2 MAX + solar could be recharged independently from the camper. This allowed the roof top solar to charge the camper battery while the EcoFlow could be recharged with its portable solar array. This is very important when camping at sites without full sun.
- The Delta 2 MAX can be used for home backup or other portable power. We keep it at our home when not camping, and it can power our house freezer, refrigerator, and internet during a power outage.
You can see it in action powering our key electronics while also charging via solar:
When you plug the camper in to the portable battery, it will recharge the camper (house) battery using power from the portable battery. While this is somewhat inefficient, it does allow you to move power from the portable battery to the camper. If you do not want this to occur, you could install a battery cutoff switch. (You could potentially also disable the charger via a fuse or circuit breaker, but I have not researched the feasibility of this).
Overall, we are very happy with this addition to our system, and the additional flexibility it provides at home and when we are on the move.