Can I add an inverter and lithium so my RV runs after the generator is off at Burning Man?

Answered by RV Parts Giant · Upland, CA · October 3, 2026

Short answer: Yes, and it is the setup Burning Man's own guidance pushes camps toward. Size a LiFePO4 bank from your overnight loads, pick the inverter for your biggest 120V appliance, fuse the battery with a Class T, and add solar to refill it by day. Air conditioning all night is the one load a single battery will not carry.

Yes. Burning Man allows generators, but asks for "the quietest generator you can afford" and pushes camps toward solar. A lithium bank and an inverter carry the quiet hours, and solar refills the bank by day so the generator runs less, or not at all.

Size the battery from your night

List what runs overnight and for how long. A 12 volt fridge, fans, lights, phone charging and a CPAP are the usual set.
Watts times hours. A 60 watt load for 10 hours is 600 watt-hours.
Add up a full day, multiply by the days you might go without a full charge, then divide by 12.8 to get amp-hours for a 12 volt lithium bank. Leave margin.

One 12V 280Ah LiFePO4 stores about 3.5 kilowatt-hours, enough for a fridge, fans and devices with room to spare. A rooftop A/C running all night will empty a single battery. Plan the A/C around the generator.

Size the inverter from your biggest appliance

Inverter size follows the largest 120 volt load, not the battery.

A 1000W inverter covers a laptop, TV, CPAP and small appliances.
A microwave or coffee maker needs a larger unit such as a Phoenix 12/3000.
A MultiPlus-II is inverter and charger in one, so when the generator does run, it recharges the bank as well as powering the coach.

Refill it with solar

The playa gets long, hard sun. A panel set on a SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 or 100/50 puts amp-hours back every day you are parked. Our MPPT pairing chart matches the controller to the panels.

Fuse it properly, even for one week

A 280 amp-hour lithium battery can deliver an enormous short-circuit current. The main battery fuse needs the interrupt rating lithium calls for: a Class T fuse in a Lynx Class-T Power In, with a MEGA fuse protecting the inverter cable. Size the cable to the inverter current and the run.

Add a SmartShunt so you know the real state of charge; lithium voltage barely moves until the battery is nearly empty. Keep cords and cables where people cannot trip over them, which Burning Man's guidance also asks.