Renogy’s 200Ah lithium battery is the perfect power solution for anyone looking to save space and power their campervan conversion or RV. So stick with us as we kick off our Renogy 200ah lithium battery review!
If you’ve been considering converting your van or RV to solar, or if you’re just looking for an upgrade from your lead-acid batteries, you may be wondering about lithium.
Lithium batteries have some big advantages over their lead-acid cousins.
They’re lighter, they hold their charge longer, and they can handle more deep discharge cycles.
But they also come with a higher price tag.
Today we’ll look at the Renogy 200ah lithium battery and see if it’s worth the investment.
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At A Glance: Renogy 200ah Lithium Battery Review
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The Renogy 200Ah Lithium Battery is the perfect solution for powering all your off-grid adventures. With its high capacity and efficient energy output, this battery can power all your 12v electrical devices in your RV.
We’ve installed 2 of these lithium batteries and tested them on our camper. Here’s what we’ve found!
- Durability – The Renogy 200Ah Lithium Battery is built with top-notch materials, heavy-duty casings, and stainless steel terminals.
- High Capacity – This battery can store up to 200Ah of power at any time, and if you size your system correctly, you don’t have to worry about running out of power while camping in remote places.
- Easy Installation – Installing the battery is extremely straightforward; a simple bolt-together connection system means that even those without technical experience can get up and running quickly – provided the entire system is compatible with a lithium battery.
So if you’re looking for an efficient way to power your campervan or RV off-the-grid, then the Renogy 200Ah Lithium Battery is definitely worth considering!
What We Like
- Terminal covers are included, so they are protected from any risk of being accidentally touched.
- Can connect up to 8 multiple batteries in parallel.
- The upfront price.
What We Don’t Like
- They cannot be connected in series, so if you need a 24v or 48v electrical system, that’s a deal breaker.
Disclaimer: Renogy was kind enough to send us 2 x 200ah lithium batteries for this review. However, the content of this post is not sponsored by Renogy, and all opinions are our own.
Where To Buy A Renogy 200ah Lithium Battery
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Renogy 200ah Lithium Battery Specification
BMS Parameters
The Renogy Lithium Batteries won’t allow charging or discharging outside of these parameters:
- Nominal Voltage: 12.8 V
- Voltage Range: 10~14.8 V
- Charge Temperature: 32~131°F/ 0~55°C
- Discharge Temperature: -4~140°F/ -20~60°C
Discharge
- Maximum Continuous Discharging Current: 200 amps, so you can use the maximum size inverter for your system
- Usable Capacity: 200Ah
- Lifespan: ~2000 cycles
Charge
- Charges at 14.4v
- Maximum Continuous Charging Current: 100 amps
- Only charge the battery with a battery charger or solar charge controller that is compatible with the lithium iron phosphate battery
- Automatic cell balancing
Temperature
- Charge: 32~131°F/ 0~55°C
- Discharge: -4~140°F/ -20~60°C
- The BMS will not allow charge/discharge outside of this range.
Other
- Weight: 60.2 lbs. (27.3 kg)
- Dimensions: 20.55 x 9.45 x 8.62 inch (522 x 240 x 219 mm)
- Connection Method: Parallel only
- Terminals: M8 bolts included – you’ll need a 13mm spanner to tighten it.
- Built-In BMS (Battery Management System)
- In-Built Bluetooth
Maximum Inverter Size
The Renogy 200ah lithium battery offers 200 amps of continuous discharge current per battery.
When you have multiple batteries wired in parallel, you can increase the discharge current for each battery in the bank.
The greater the maximum continuous discharge current, the greater the fully loaded inverter size the system can support.
For example:
- 1 x 200ah battery provides a maximum of 200a continuous discharge current. Multiply 200a by your system’s voltage (i.e., 12 volts), showing you can have a maximum inverter size of 2400w. Typically that will be a 2000w inverter.
- 2 x 200ah batteries provide a maximum of 400a continuous discharge current. Multiply 400a by your system’s voltage (i.e., 12 volts), showing you can have a maximum inverter size of 4800w. Typically that will be a 4000w inverter.
- And so on.
The important point to consider here is that just because the battery bank can support a fully loaded inverter of whatever size doesn’t mean you need to install one.
Renogy Lithium Battery vs. AGM Battery
Comparing a Renogy 200ah Lithium battery (100% usable capacity) with 4 x 200AH AGM battery (50% usable capacity):
| 2 x 200Ah AGM | 200Ah Lithium | |
| Usable Capacity | 200Ah | 200Ah |
| Weight | 255.8 lbs / 116 kg | 60.2 lbs / 27.3 kg |
| Life cycles | ~1000 | ~2000 |
| Upfront Cost | ~$740 | ~$1000 |
| Cost per cycle | $0.74 | $0.50 |
| Length* | 20.6″ / 522 mm | 20.55″ / 522 mm |
| Width* | 8.8″ / 224 mm | 8.62″ / 219 mm |
| Height* | 9.4″ / 240 mm | 9.45″ / 240 mm |
| Total Volume* | 0.056m³ | 0.027m³ |
*Dimensions for the AGM batteries are per battery. The total space needed is their combined volume.
So to summarize, the Renogy 200ah Lithium battery, compared to 2 x 200ah Renogy AGM batteries, will:
- Last twice as long,
- Costs a third less upfront,
- Cost a third less over its lifetime,
- Weighs four times less, and
- Requires half the space.
Kind of a no-brainer, really.
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Key Features
Reliable BMS System
Every lithium battery needs a management system: a BMS. A few years ago, some lithium batteries needed a separate BMS. Today, most have an integrated BMS, so we don’t need to install another electrical component.
A BMS is the brain of the battery. It provides critical control over the battery to control charging rates and cell performance. It also provides safety protection features like
- short circuit,
- overcharging,
- Over-temperature, and
- Voltage balancing features.
Auto-Balancing Function
The BMS of each battery ensures its cells are balanced. This function performs just as well with multiple batteries wired in parallel.
This improves the average charging efficiency for your batteries in the long term.
Quick Charge Technology
One of the advantages of lithium batteries is they can absorb more electrical energy than the older AGM and Gels. They can absorb twice or even three times as much energy as an AGM equivalent.
The Renogy 200ah lithium battery can absorb over 50% of its capacity in an hour, significantly reducing the charging time.
Bluetooth & Real-time Monitor
Using the latest Bluetooth technology, you can monitor the battery operation status on mobile devices in real time.
It also uses a Zigbee communication protocol, which easily connects to Renogy’s latest power management system, the Renogy One.
Affordability
If you’re after a reliable, name-brand lithium battery with a large capacity – and at an unbeatable price – there’s no better choice than this one.
Its low cost upfront makes it one of the most affordable options on the market today.
Renogy Support & Customer Care
There are mixed reviews on Renogy’s support. We’ve not needed to contact their support teams, so we don’t have first-hand experience to be able to comment.
And anyway, the Renogy batteries are considered reliable and stand up to the test of time. So, the likelihood of needing to contact their support teams is pretty low.
How Does The Renogy 200ah Lithium Battery Compare To Other Renogy Lithium Batteries?
Comparing a Renogy 200ah Lithium battery with a 2 x 100AH 12V 100Ah Smart Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery:
| 200Ah Lithium | 2 x 100Ah Lithium | |
| Usable Capacity | 200Ah | 200Ah |
| Weight | 60.2 lbs / 27.3 kg | 52 lbs / 23.6 kg |
| Life cycles | ~2000 | ~4000 |
| Upfront Cost | ~$1000 | ~$1400 |
| Cost per cycle | $0.50 | $0.35 |
| Length | 20.55″ / 522 mm | 11.4″ / 289 mm |
| Width | 8.62″ / 219 mm | 6.8″ / 172 mm |
| Height | 9.45″ / 240 mm | 7.4″ / 188 mm |
| Total Volume | 0.027m³ | 0.02m³ |
So to summarize, the Renogy 200ah Lithium battery, compared to 2 x 100ah Renogy lithium batteries, is:
- 8lb heavier,
- Costs a third less upfront,
- Costs >40% more per cycle,
- Has half the lifespan, and
- Requires a little more space.
Those points make deciding between the two batteries more difficult than between the lithium and AGM.
There’s a little difference in the dimensions and the overall weight, but these are insignificant unless you have specific size constraints.
The cost per cycle is notably more expensive for the 200ah battery. However, the upfront cost is strikingly lower.
If you use one lifecycle per day, i.e., you’ve built no contingency into your battery bank, and you live in your van full-time, 2000 lifecycles will last five and half years.
In that time, the replacement costs of lithium batteries are likely to have fallen enormously. Five years ago, you’d have paid thousands for these batteries, and prices continue to fall.
Plus, in five years, you may have replaced your camper, motorhome or RV, in which case, you’ll be passing on the benefit of the longer lifecycle to the new buyer.
Overall, we believe the 200Ah lithium is a better buy than the 2 x 100Ah lithium batteries, but we’re splitting hairs, really.
So How Does The Renogy 200ah Lithium Battery Compare To The Competition?
| 200Ah Renogy | 2 x 100Ah Battle Born | |
| Usable Capacity | 200Ah | 200Ah |
| Weight | 60.2 lbs / 27.3 kg | 62 lbs / 28.1 kg |
| Life cycles | ~2000 | ~3-5000 |
| Upfront Cost | ~$1000 | ~$1748 |
| Cost per cycle | $0.50 | $0.34 – $0.58 |
| Length | 20.55″ / 522 mm | 12.76″ / 324 mm |
| Width | 8.62″ / 219 mm | 6.86″ / 174 mm |
| Height | 9.45″ / 240 mm | 8.95″ / 227 mm |
| Total Volume | 0.027m³ | 0.025m³ |
Battle Born batteries are renowned as one of the best lithium batteries available for RVs, camper conversions, and motorhomes.
They have a longer lifespan than the Renogy Lithium batteries but look at the price tag. The upfront cost for the same capacity is almost twice that of Renogy.
Plus, Battle Born gives a lifecycle range to indicate its lifespan. At the lower end, there’s almost no difference in the cost per cycle of the Renogy.
Resources
Other Renogy 12v Lithium Batteries Available
12V 100Ah Smart Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery w/ Self-Heating Function
- 100ah
- 26 lbs / 11.8 kg
- ~4000 cycles
- ~$640
12V 100Ah Smart Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery w/Bluetooth
- 100ah
- 28.7 lbs. / 13.0 kg
- ~2000 cycles
- ~$470
In Conclusion
In conclusion, the Renogy 200Ah Lithium battery is an excellent buy for those looking for an affordable lithium-ion option with good performance.
While there are plenty of Lithium batteries on the market, not all offer affordable real-time local monitoring with a Bluetooth module.
This makes the Renogy 200ah lithium battery particularly unique. It’s also lightweight and easy to install, making it perfect for beginners and those short on space.
Renogy 200ah Lithium Battery With Bluetooth
If you’ve ever used a lithium battery before, we’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below.
Graham Bogie
Graham is a seasoned marine electrical engineer with two decades of experience designing customized electrical systems for plant machinery and converting campers and overland vehicles. His expertise has led him to author the reputable Campervan Electrics Handbook and become the chief designer of the RV Wiring Design Tool. As a knowledgeable figure in the field, his YouTube channel, blog, Facebook group, and newsletter, offering electrical advice and product reviews, reach more than a million users each year.
