Of the systems available on the Internet the quality of design and documentation varies widely. A small company in Colorado, Explorist Life, seemed to have the most complete designs in a variety of sizes. These are well documented with a wealth of YouTube videos on installing their kits and RV electrical upgrades in general. They currently offer Victron based designs but I believe they will be developing kits from other suppliers. They also sell Victron components used in their kits, as well as wiring kits. The wiring kits are specific to their designs but could be adapted to others. For Ziggy we decided to obtain the design, Victron equipement and wiring from Explorist. I feel the wiring kits are a good deal. If you don't have a really good electrical supply store, willing to sell small quantities, the shipping cost will outweigh and added cost for their services. After completing Ziggy's upgrade I'm glad I went with Explorist Life.

After studying their designs I settled on their Explore Lite 30A Wiring Diagram/Kit. It's for those retrofitting a small motorhome with "smaller electrical demands and space or budget constraints". Sounds a lot like our situation.

The kit is based on Victron equipment and includes the following main components:

• One 300Ahr Epoch LiPo battery


• Lynx Distributor - bus bars and fuse holders


• MultiPlus 12V|2000VA|80A - inverter/charger for 12V systems,
  2000w max inverter output, up to 80A charging & 30A transfer switch


• VE.bus Smart Dongle - to monitor the MultiPlus via bluetooth


• Smart Solar MTTP 100|50 - solar controller, up to 50A & 100V charging


• Orion 12|12-50A - DC/DC alternator charger, nominal 12VDC input & output,
  up to 50A charging


• Smart Shunt 300A - monitor battery via bluetooth

The Vircron components specified meet our needs well.

The MultiPlus 12V|2000VA|80A exceeds specifications by a comfortable amount. The next smaller Victron inverter/charger, the 12V|1600VA|70A, would just meet our specifications. The inverter would carry 1600w meeting our specification of 1500w. However, this smaller MultiPlus has a transfer switch capacity of 16A with our specification of at least 15A and desiring 30A. This smaller inverter/charger would just work with our system. It however is hard to find in stock and is not available from Explorist. For simplicity and a little head room, the 12|2000|80 Multiplus was selected. The difference in price was small. Also, if purchased from Explorist they will program the MultiPlus to your selected battery for a small charge.

Solar panels have yet to be selected and will be for compatibility with our Smart Solar MTTP 100|50. This controller is designed for up to 700w at a PV voltave of 12v, and 1400w at 24v. This may be over specified for our system but will allow a wide selection of panels and wiring. We shall see how this works out.

The Orion 12|12-50A DC/DC converter is just right. It provides battery charging up to 50A which is our system specification.

That's the system in a nutshell. Far more details on the Explorist.Life website.