🛠️ Converting Our Electric System to Victron and Adding More Solar

We aren’t really boondockers. In fact, we don’t even call ourselves “campers.” We’re just living on the road. We pull into a park and hook up to the three essentials: sewer, water, and 50-amp power. It works great — and gives us all the comforts of home.

But the idea of parking somewhere off-grid has always been appealing. Just us, the open space, and the rig running on sunshine. We finally made a few upgrades to help us get there, starting with a full conversion to Victron.

What Wasn’t Working

Our rig came with a decent inverter/charger, but almost no monitoring. You had to stand in front of a little control unit and push buttons to figure out what was happening. And the solar? Just enough to maybe keep the batteries from dying. Maybe.

We kept asking:

• Are we even charging right now?

• How much power do we actually have left?

• What happens if we unplug?

The old system kinda worked. If we weren’t plugged in, we could run the fridge, microwave, and a few outlets. But no air conditioning. No idea what was going on under the hood. And not enough solar to really matter.

And with the sun shining down on us almost every day, it felt like we were wasting a free resource.

What We Installed

There are a lot of options out there, but Victron kept coming up as the one people trusted. Their stuff works well together, and the touchscreen display is super easy to use.

For the geeks out there, here’s what we added:

• Victron Multiplus II 12/3000 x2 Inverter/Charger

• Victron SmartSolar MPPT 150/70 Charge Controller

• Victron Cerbo GX with Touch 70 screen

• 2x 410W bifacial solar panels

• Rewired everything with proper breakers, fuses, and busbars

We paired that with our existing pair of Epoch 460Ah LiFePO4 batteries — finally giving them the setup they deserve.

The Install

We worked with Kyle from Utah Off-Grid Solar, and he was awesome. He handled the Victron gear, and we tackled the solar panels.

Installing the solar itself isn’t too bad. Most of the effort went into mounting the panels securely. We used a simple rail-and-stile system and avoided putting any extra holes in the roof — all using parts from Home Depot. Win!

Flipping the Switch

When it was time to test it all out, we flipped some breakers… and it just worked.

• Shore power passed through like nothing changed.

• The inverters were quiet and smooth.

• On a sunny day, we’re getting 800+ watts from the panels — more than enough to keep up with our DC loads.

And the best part? We can now see everything in real time — power in, power out, battery status, solar input. All from a screen inside the rig or from the Victron app on our phones.

What’s Better Now

• No more guessing — Everything goes through the Victron, so we can monitor both legs of our 50-amp power. When we unplug, every outlet still works. Even the A/C.

• Faster charging — The MPPT controller and LiFePO4 combo means we’re getting more power, more quickly.

• Peace of mind — We get alerts if something’s off, and we can even get support remotely if we need it.

Final Thoughts

This setup gave us way more insight and control than we’ve ever had. Everything feels solid, and we’re finally confident in our electric system — whether we’re plugged in or not.

If you’re thinking about a similar upgrade, reach out! Kyle at Utah Off-Grid Solar was fantastic, and the whole project was absolutely worth it.