400Ah Arizon Off-Grid Caravan Power System – Designed for Real-World Caravan Living

At Totally 12 Volt, we don't believe in taking a one-size-fits-all approach to caravan electrical systems. Every customer has different requirements, different appliances, different travel habits and a different budget. Our job is to understand what the customer actually wants to achieve and then design a system around those requirements.

This recent installation is a great example of that approach.

For this caravan, we designed and installed a high-capacity Arizon Off Grid electrical system featuring two 200Ah Arizon lithium batteries, an Arizon Nexus Wave3000 inverter and an Arizon Nexus TriX50 3-in-1 charging system.

The result is a compact and powerful system designed to give the customer the freedom to use many of the appliances they would normally use at home, even when travelling off-grid.

Two Arizon 200Ah Lithium Batteries

The foundation of this system is the battery bank.

We installed two Arizon 200Ah 12.8V LiFePO4 lithium batteries connected in parallel, giving the customer a total of 400Ah of battery capacity.

Each Arizon battery weighs just 19.9kg and incorporates its own Battery Management System (BMS), providing protection including over-charge, over-discharge, cell balancing and temperature protection.

Together, the two batteries provide approximately 5.12kWh of nominal stored energy.

There is another important specification that makes these batteries particularly suitable for a high-power system.

Each battery has a specified peak discharge current of 200A. With two batteries working together, the system has a combined peak discharge capability of up to 400A, subject to the battery configuration and the complete installation.

This is important when we're designing a system around high-powered 240V appliances.

A large inverter can demand a significant amount of current from a 12V battery bank. Having sufficient battery output capability is just as important as having enough stored capacity.

Arizon Nexus Wave3000 Inverter

The next major component is the Arizon Nexus Wave3000.

The Wave3000 is a 3,000W pure sine wave inverter designed for 12V systems. It can provide 3,000W of continuous output and up to 6,000W of peak power.

So what does that actually mean for the customer?

The inverter takes the 12V DC power stored in the lithium batteries and converts it into 240V AC power that can be used to operate appliances.

The pure sine wave output makes it suitable for the types of appliances commonly found in caravans and motorhomes.

The Wave3000 also includes a transfer switch and UPS function with automatic transfer, allowing the system to manage the changeover between available AC power sources. Bluetooth monitoring also allows the system to be monitored from a mobile device.

The inverter incorporates several protection features, including battery over-voltage and over-discharge protection, overload and short-circuit protection, over-temperature protection and RCD leakage protection.

For this particular customer, the 3,000W inverter provides the power required to run high-demand appliances such as an air fryer, coffee machine or induction cooktop, depending on the individual appliance and what other loads are being used at the same time.

Arizon Nexus TriX50 – Three Charging Systems in One

While the Wave3000 provides the 240V power, the battery bank also needs to be recharged.

This is where the Arizon Nexus TriX50 comes in.

The TriX50 is a clever 3-in-1 charging unit that combines three different charging functions into one unit:

DC-DC alternator charging

MPPT solar charging

AC-DC mains charging

On a 12V system, the TriX50 provides up to 50A total charging capacity. It's important to understand that this is 50A total output, not 50A from each charging source simultaneously.

The DC-DC section allows the caravan's house batteries to be charged from the tow vehicle while driving.

The MPPT solar controller manages energy coming from the caravan's solar panels.

And the AC-DC charger allows the batteries to be charged when the caravan is connected to 240V mains power.

Having these three charging functions integrated into one unit helps simplify the system and reduces the number of separate components required.

The TriX50 also includes Bluetooth monitoring, allowing the customer to monitor the system through a mobile device.

Why This Combination Works So Well

The real advantage of this installation isn't one particular component.

It's how all the components work together.

The batteries provide the stored energy.

The Wave3000 converts that stored 12V energy into 240V AC power.

The TriX50 puts energy back into the batteries from the vehicle, solar or mains power.

This creates a complete off-grid power system rather than simply installing a large battery and inverter.

For a customer who enjoys using modern appliances while travelling, this makes a huge difference.

What Can the Customer Expect From This System?

This is one of the most important questions we discuss when designing a system.

A 400Ah battery bank doesn't mean the customer can run appliances forever.

The batteries provide approximately 5.12kWh of nominal stored energy, while the inverter determines how much 240V power can be supplied at any one time.

For example, a 2,000W appliance can require roughly 160–170A from a 12V battery system once inverter losses are taken into account. A 3,000W load can require well over 230A.

That's why we need to consider the battery's discharge capability, inverter capacity, cable sizing, protection and the customer's actual usage when designing the system.

With this installation, the customer has a substantial battery bank and a 3,000W inverter, giving them the ability to use appliances such as air fryers, coffee machines, kettles and induction cooktops without needing to be connected to mains power.

How long they can run those appliances depends on the actual appliance wattage, how long it is used, what other electrical loads are operating and how much energy is being replaced through solar, driving or mains charging.

That's the difference between power and capacity.

The inverter determines how much power you can use at once.

The battery bank determines how much energy you have stored.

The charging system determines how quickly you can put that energy back.

Designed Around the Customer's Requirements and Budget

This is exactly why we don't believe in simply selling a pre-packaged battery system.

Before designing a system, we want to know what you want to run, how you travel, whether you free camp, how much solar you have, what vehicle you're towing with and what your budget is.

Sometimes a customer doesn't need a 400Ah system.

Sometimes they do.

Our job is to work that out with you.

We were particularly impressed with the value offered by this Arizon Off Grid combination. It provides a high level of capability without unnecessarily complicating the installation.

The finished system is compact, powerful and designed around the customer's actual requirements.

The Right System for the Right Customer

For this particular customer, we believe this Arizon Off Grid system is an excellent solution.

With 400Ah of lithium storage, a 3,000W inverter and the TriX50 providing integrated charging from solar, the vehicle and mains power, it is a fantastic system for customers who want to enjoy the convenience of 240V cooking appliances while travelling off-grid.

Air fryers, coffee machines, kettles and induction cooktops are all excellent examples of appliances this type of system is designed to handle. It gives the customer the freedom to cook and use everyday appliances without needing to be connected to mains power.

Could it run air conditioning? Yes, potentially, but this isn't a system we'd recommend specifically for extended air-conditioning use.

While 400Ah of lithium provides a substantial amount of stored energy, air conditioning is a much larger and more sustained load. For customers wanting to run air conditioning for extended periods, we'd recommend looking at a larger battery bank and a charging system designed to replace a much greater amount of energy.

That's an important part of how we approach system design at Totally 12 Volt.

We don't just look at what an inverter can run. We look at how much energy the customer is going to use and, just as importantly, how much energy the system is capable of putting back into the batteries.

In this installation, we haven't designed the system around a large amount of incoming charge because the customer's primary requirement was high-powered cooking and general off-grid use rather than running air conditioning for extended periods.

This is why we always design systems around the customer's actual requirements, travel style and budget.

If your main priority is cooking off-grid, this Arizon combination offers excellent capability and value.

If you want to run air conditioning for hours at a time, we'll design a different system to suit that requirement.

At Totally 12 Volt, we don't believe in simply selling the biggest battery or inverter available.

We believe in designing the right system for the way you actually use your caravan.

If you're considering a lithium upgrade or complete off-grid electrical system, talk to us about what you want to run, how you travel and what you need your system to achieve.

Totally 12 Volt – Sunshine Coast caravan, off-grid and auto electrical specialists.