Renogy has been relentlessly innovating its vehicle-based energy products since 2010. While the dual battery system I put together with Renogy products in 2015 functioned flawlessly for three years and 54,000 miles around Africa, Renogy’s latest round of products are more efficient and durable while being smaller and lighter. By incorporating customer feedback and real-world testing around the globe, Renogy continues to offer feature-packed products that don’t break the bank.
IP67 50A 12V/24V DC-DC Battery Charger with MPPT | $500
Keeping a house battery fully charged is best achieved by taking energy from solar when the sun shines and from the alternator through a DC/DC charger when the engine is running. Of paramount importance is isolating the starter battery from the house battery to ensure the starter battery is not depleted, leaving the vehicle stranded. Rather than having a slew of separate units with all the associated wiring to perform each of these functions, Renogy has combined them into a single package that does it all with their 50 amp DC/DC solar MPPT charger.
The charger is compact, lightweight, and has no moving parts to wear out or fail. With an IP67 rating, the charger can theoretically be mounted anywhere inside or outside the vehicle, including under the hood. Be warned, however, that in my testing, I observed the charging current dropping dramatically when the unit gets hot, so it is best mounted far from an engine or exhaust and out of direct sun. On sunny days, charging from solar is prioritized to reduce load on the vehicle alternator. With a new setting, charging can be evenly split between solar and the vehicle alternator, or solar charging can turn off at a configurable threshold to draw the entire 50 amps from the alternator. This ensures house batteries are quickly charged to full capacity, even on cloudy days. Once house batteries are fully charged, the starter battery is trickle-charged from solar to keep it topped off during days or weeks in camp. Bluetooth connectivity provides fast and easy real-time monitoring, and various battery types are supported, including gel, AGM, flooded, and lithium.
100/200 Pro Smart Lithium Battery | $1,120, $1,300
Lithium batteries store an enormous amount of energy in a small footprint and are typically half the weight of traditional batteries while being physically smaller. Early lithium battery designs were not overly robust and have caused more than a few vehicle fires by rapid discharge, short circuits, and overheating.
To make the batteries tough enough for use in an overland vehicle, Renogy’s latest round of lithium batteries contain an internal battery management system (BMS) that not only charges and discharges the battery efficiently but also protects from damage or fire caused by adverse weather conditions, faulty wiring, and more.
To stress test the battery, I subjected it to multiple rounds of abuse, including overnight freezing, short-circuiting the terminals, and charging in direct hot sun. Throughout all of this, the BMS did its job to safeguard the battery and continued to deliver power when possible. The built-in heater function brought the battery up to a safe temperature for charging and discharging, and the BMS instantly turned off the battery when it detected a direct short between the terminals, preventing a fire or meltdown.
Despite all of that abuse, the battery delivered just over the rated 100 amp hours of energy in my full discharge test, sustaining almost 100 amps of continuous current draw for a little over an hour, delivering a maximum of 245 amps for up to 30 seconds. Monitoring the state of charge, current flow, and battery temperature is easier than ever before with Bluetooth and the free Renogy Home app. Available in 100 and 200 amp-hour sizes.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Winter 2024 Issue.
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