A New Vision For RV Battery Charging
Nowadays you would be hard pressed to find an RV that doesn't rely on 12V power for practically all functions and amenities. Long past the days of gravity furnaces, 120V lights, and manually operated fridges, the beating heart of your RV is your 12V system, and at the center of that your batteries. These pricey little power houses can be tricky to keep up and maintain. Any long term RV owner knows that replacing your batteries is a thing to dread, naturally you want to maximize the lifespan of you deep cycle batteries. Although all batteries have a lifespan, the difference in between a well looked after battery and a neglected one can be years. Keeping your batteries alive and powerful is to keep them charged up. Traditional deep-cycle batteries are designed to discharge small amounts of amperage over a longer period, yet the life of your battery shortens every time it dips below 80% charge. Each time your deep-cycle is discharged below 80% it will shorten the life of it. In conjunction with that a deep-cycle battery will also discharge slowly over time without being used. If your battery discharges and stays at a discharged state it will be less likely to come back to a full charge resulting in a shorter life span. All this to say that it can be tricky, but it is vitally important to have adequate charging systems and to keep your batteries charged up.
Traditional Charging Methods
RV’s now a days are generally equipped with a few methods of charge. It is likely that your RV is equipped with 1-4 of these methods.
Shore power - This takes 120V power from your shore power plug, through your convertor, converts it to 12V power to charge your batteries.
Engine - For trailers charge comes through the 7-way plug in to the batteries to charge. For motorhomes the charge is wired directly to the batteries through a relay, allowing the charger from your alternator in your engine to get to your aux batteries.
Solar - Mounted on the roof or an auxiliary plug the solar panel converts energy from the sun into 12V current to charge.
Generator - Like an engine, a generator will use fuel to create a 120V current that will turn into 12V current at your convertor to then supply your batteries.
You will likely find modern RVs with most or all these methods of charge on board, this is because all of these methods have their drawbacks and circumstances when they just cant be used. For example generators are loud, heavy and stink, and are the last things you and your neighbors want to hear while they are trying to enjoy some peace and quiet at a campsite. Shore power you have to be connected to the grid and often have to pay extra at a campsite for power hookups. Engine charging means you have to have your vehicle running in order to have your batteries charge… great while passively driving but not so good at a campground or out in the bush. Solar is generally the most popular these days with its passive energy production perfect for off-gridders, yet rely on constant sun to charge which means forested campsites, night-time, shorter days and cloudy days can cause interference with your charging abilities. Now if you are a weekend warrior that spends weekends away enjoying campsites where your hooked up and can store your RV plugged into shore power then all those charge options are likely sufficient and you have no idea what the fuss is about. For those of us that spend days off grid, hours down Forest service roads, weeks on road trips, or even live in your RV these all pose serious threats to your peace of mind on extended trips. It can be the difference between you stepping into a warm RV after a brisk day outdoors to enjoy a warm cup of tea and a game of cards at the table for the evening… and you collecting water from the drain of your fresh water tank under the light from your headlamp, constantly adding layers of clothes as the sun slips away, then huddled into bed once the sun goes down… both would be great stories but personally I would prefer the former. Now you might be thinking that you can just have a larger battery bank, which certainly could be a possible solution yet batteries can be heavy and take up much space and there are certain parameters in which some can be stored and you will still need to make sure they are all being charged. This is all to say that there is something to add to the repertoire of RV charge systems that can solve many of the issues posed from the traditional charging systems… enter Efoy Fuel Cell.
What is it? How does it work?
The Efoy fuel cell is a small methanol fuel cell that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. This process occurs by taking the methanol fuel into the fuel cell inside the cell where it is met with oxygen from the air, a series of reactions takes place separating the electrons from the methanol cells, the electrons then flow out of the fuel cell at the anode (POS + pole) in turn creating an electrical current. The whole process is quiet and efficient only producing waste heat and water vapor that contains an miniscule amount of carbon dioxide. This technology has many uses for off-grid applications but it shows much promise for the RV industry.
Benefits and uses
The benefits of something like the Efoy fuel cell in an RV application are that it can provide constant, efficent, eco-friendly power that can be supplied with just a simple methanol cartridge. its smaller in size when compared to a generator or solar panel which allows it to be installed anywhere in your RV that you have space for, saving you from the common and costly installation requirements involved in some of the other common charging systems. With water being the only byproduct it skates around the frequent ventilation requirements involved in something like a generator. With little noise pollution when running your neighbors won't hear a thing and all you will hear is the sounds of a quiet fan when the fuel cell is running. You can also feel good about Methanol as a fuel because the carbon dioxide that is released as a result of the process is offset by the carbon dioxide that is captured by the crops that are grown to produce the fuel, which differs when it comes to gasoline and diesel. The efoy fuel cell is a good choice for an eco-friendly power source.
Drawbacks
All this being said, there is no perfect charging system. Although the efoy and fuel cell technology solves many of the issues that are posed with RV charging systems there are some draw backs. Fuel, if you choose to go the Efoy route you will still have to lug around methanol fuel cartridge. Efoy fuel cells also require their “high purity methanol” with their cartridge format which could prove to be of some annoyance. Since the technology is still fairly new and since efoy proves to be the only product of this sort available in an RV application the price point is still quite daunting… that being said I do believe some of the costs can be justified by the savings in installation costs. Along with most electronic technology, fuel cells require expensive materials and like any new to market tech it may be a while before the price comes down.
Conclusion
Though efoy seems to be the first provider to market this fuel cell technology to an RV market, without a doubt this promising tech will become more prevalent throughout the off-grid industry. For the early adopters that want to have clean, quiet, consistent power to their RV the efoy fuel cell, if in your budget, may be exactly what you are looking for.
