News

Victron SmartShunt Setup & Overview: Bluetooth Battery Monitoring

A battery monitor is one of the most valuable things you can add to any system — without one, you're flying blind on state of charge, runtime, and what's actually drawing from your bank. The Victro...

How to Configure the Victron MultiPlus-II for Lithium Batteries

The Victron MultiPlus-II is one of the most capable inverter/chargers you can install — but it ships configured for lead-acid batteries. If you've paired it with a LiFePO4 bank and left the settin...

48V vs 12V: Which Voltage Should You Build Your Off-Grid System Around?

If you're planning an off-grid solar system and wondering whether to build at 12V or 48V — or somewhere in between — the short answer is: it depends on how much power you're running. But the full a...

ABYC Certification: What It Means and Why Your Electrician Should Have It

If you've ever hired someone to work on your boat's electrical system, you've probably wondered how to tell the difference between a good electrician and a great one. On land, the answer is usually...

How to Monitor Your System Remotely with Victron VRM

Victron VRM — the Victron Remote Monitoring portal — lets you see your entire power system from anywhere with an internet connection. Battery state of charge, solar production, inverter load, AC i...

Torqeedo Cruise 3.0 R Review: Silent 6HP Electric Outboard

Hands-on review of the Torqeedo Cruise 3.0 R — a 48V electric outboard with 6HP-equivalent thrust, GPS range tracking, and a battery bank that scales to 16.

The Complete 2026 Boating Guide: New Codes and Standards

Two significant code changes took effect for the 2026 boating season — one from the National Electrical Code covering marina shore power, and one from ABYC covering lithium battery installations on...

RV Boondocking 101: How to Power Your Rig on Solar and Lithium

Boondocking — dry camping, dispersed camping, call it what you want — is the best camping there is. No fee stations, no generator noise from the next site over, no waiting for a shower. Just the si...

Generator vs Solar for Off-Grid: When Does Each Make Sense?

The generator vs. solar question is framed as a competition, but it's really a question of proportion. Almost every serious off-grid installation uses both — the real decision is which one does the...

Don't Buy Victron Until You Read This: A Buyer's Guide

The question comes up constantly: can I just buy this on Amazon? The blue box looks identical. The model number matches. The price is sometimes lower.Brendan from Blue Marine addresses this directl...

Stop Your Boat From Corroding: Victron Galvanic Isolator Explained

Your zincs are doing their job — but they can only do so much. If your boat spends time plugged into a marina dock, there's a corrosion mechanism at work that sacrificial anodes can't fully defend ...

Best Inverter/Charger for Class A, B, and C Motorhomes

Motorhomes are not one category. A Class B campervan, a Class C on a cutaway chassis, and a Class A diesel pusher have almost nothing in common when it comes to electrical systems — different AC l...

Epoch 12V 334Ah Review: Heated, Bluetooth LiFePO4 Battery

Hands-on review of the Epoch Essential 334Ah: 4.28 kWh LiFePO4 with self-heating, Bluetooth monitoring, 300A output, and an 11-year warranty.

The Ultra-Portable 1100W Outboard: TEMO 1000 Full Walkthrough

The TEMO 1000 is a French-designed electric outboard built around a simple idea: make it as easy to carry, stow, and deploy as possible without sacrificing useful power. At just under 35 lbs with t...

Alternator Charging with Lithium Batteries: What You Need to Know

Upgrading to lithium batteries changes almost everything about how your electrical system behaves — including how you charge from your alternator. The charging profile that works perfectly for AGM...

Off-Grid Battery Bank Sizing: Cabin, Homestead, and Tiny House

The battery bank is the center of any off-grid power system. Everything else — solar panels, charge controllers, inverters — either fills it or draws from it. Get the size wrong and you're either c...

How to Design an Off-Grid Solar System from Scratch

Most off-grid solar systems fail not because of bad components but because of bad sequencing. People pick a battery size, then buy panels to match, then realize their inverter is undersized, and en...

THE Next Generation: ePropulsion Spirit 2 Review

Ten years of the Spirit lineup come together in the Spirit 2. ePropulsion didn’t just iterate — they redesigned the motor, the battery, the tiller, the display, and the propeller. Wesley took one o...

Which Victron Inverter/Charger Is Right for You? (Full Guide)

Inverter/chargers are the backbone of any serious off-grid or hybrid power system. They do two critical jobs: invert DC battery power into AC for running household loads, and charge your battery ba...

How to Size a Battery Bank for Your RV: A Practical Guide

Battery bank sizing is the question that trips up more RV electrical upgrades than almost anything else. Buy too little and you’re watching the gauge drop before dinner. Buy more than you need and ...

The Complete RV Solar and Battery Upgrade Guide

Shore power hookups are fine when you can get them. But the campgrounds with hookups are often the crowded, noisy ones. The sites you actually want — dispersed BLM land, national forest roads, remo...

Marine Solar Tax Credit Guide: What Changed, What Still Qualifies, and How to Claim It

The 30% federal Residential Clean Energy Credit ended for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025. Here's what boat, RV, and off-grid owners can still claim, how carryforwards work, and...

Pod Drive vs Outboard vs Inboard: Which Electric Propulsion Is Right?

Electric propulsion for boats isn’t one thing — it’s three distinct architectures with very different installation requirements, performance profiles, and ideal use cases. An electric outboard, a p...

How to Wire Lithium Batteries in Parallel (Safely)

Wiring lithium batteries in parallel is one of the most common ways to scale up a battery bank — connect two or more batteries positive-to-positive and negative-to-negative, and you double (or trip...

Inverter vs Inverter-Charger: What's the Difference and Which Do You Need?

These two terms get used interchangeably in boating and RV circles, and they shouldn’t. An inverter and an inverter-charger are different devices that do different jobs — and choosing the wrong on...

How to Install Solar Panels on a Sailboat: A Step-by-Step Guide

Installing solar on a sailboat is one of the most rewarding electrical upgrades you can make — and one of the few that genuinely pays back on passage. Get it right and you have free, quiet, mainten...

Rigid vs Flexible Solar Panels: Which Is Better for Boats and RVs?

Flexible panels look like the obvious choice for boats. They’re lighter, they conform to curved surfaces, and they don’t need a complicated mounting frame. So why do most experienced offshore sail...