Gimme Power
When you’re first starting a van build every little detail is overwhelming.
Then each decision feels like a complete and total victory.
5 minutes after making a decision you begin to question yourself.
Will I regret this choice? Should I have gotten the bigger toilet? YES! The answer will always be yes.
But once you make a decision stick to it, unless there is an absolute reason you need to change it.
However there is one decision that really matters and can make your life on the road a lot easier.
Your solar set up.
Now you will talk to a lot of DIY’ers and even they admit often they asked for help on the power and ensuring the wiring was all done correctly.
Even when I was thinking of doing the build myself I didn’t want to touch the electrical with a 10 ft pole. I knew if my electrical system was shotty I would have a miserable time on the road. There were visions running through my mind of nights using only a headlamp to cook, but wait I probably wouldn’t be using my stove, I would be on my little Jet Boil. It sounded like everything I didn’t want.
When calculating my electrical usage, I started off with the decision that I didn’t want to have my inverter running. That would be strictly used to charge laptops, or a blender if I decided to be brave enough and use it.
I knew that the conversion of AC to DC was going to suck my power and I knew that buying the Fridge I have would save me money on batteries or having to get a larger solar set up. Recently I found out that changing the power from AC to DC is 10x what the actual pull is.
The only consistent power draw in my van is the fridge, and that pulls DC power and takes next to nothing.
With that I decided to ensure I would have enough solar to power myself for a few days without sunshine. I know that not every where will have bright delicious sun rays.
My solar set up is
400 watt renogy Kit
2 Vmax 165 Amp hour batteries
The Keyline Battery Isolator to charge my batteries from my alternator. This comes in handy on days when it’s less sunny. You can always take the car for a quick drive to power up some.
Then I have a 3000 watt pure sine wave inverter. I really haven’t tested it yet with a blender because well, if I mess up my electrical system it’s really my worst fear. One day at peak sun hours I will try it, and finally conquer that fear. I guarantee come summer I will be all aboard the smoothe train.
I have had plenty of power with this set up, and there have been a few days that the sun didn’t shine. Yes my power dropped a little low and I didn’t want to charge my laptop in the van.
Honestly I can’t say enough about these Renogy Panels. I’m sure there are much fancier ones that I could buy, but these have honestly worked really well. Even when it’s overcast or foggy I have seen them collecting energy.
The only downside is that they do take up a fair amount of space, and I wish I could have a roof deck. Maybe one day I will get creative and build a roof deck around the front of the van.
The batteries I have work just perfect for now. And the only reason I am saying is for now, is I haven’t drained them yet. But I do worry on a day which I might drop them below 50%.
Eventually I would like to swap my batteries out for lithium. You can drain the lithium batteries all the way to zero, but these are best at around 50%. The downside with the lithium is strictly how expensive it is. It also doesn’t carry the same weight as my batteries. Each one is 100 pounds, and definitely played a huge role in my build, as we really considered weight distribution.
The other pieces of my electrical set up are below, this includes my fuse block and wires used for the alternator and battery connection.
Let there be light
Now for my lights in the van that are another draw of power I have, I went for all 12v and they pull next to nothing when turned on.
Then I also put the strip lights under my cabinet to give more light at night and I think it’s actually a really nice touch.
My light switches are these and they have a dimming capability and you can leave it set on the level you want. I personally LOVE these, because when I dim my bedroom lights at night I wake up in the morning and my lights are still set low. It’s the little things guys!
The voltage meter I have is pretty sweet too! It has a USB port next to it which gives you a double whammy. But I love having my read out very visible because it allows me to monitor when the best time to charge, I see my read at 14 and I plug everything in.
Power is king
My solar setup has worked so well for me. I honestly feel so great in what I chose. But a lot of it came down to really thinking about my usage and making sure I would have enough to power myself. When you are designing your set up make sure you really think of how much you will use your inverter. Also I would highly recommend making sure you have someone check your electrical set up that does know a thing or two about wires. When you really think about it once you cover those wires it’s a lot harder to fix things once your home is built.
Tons of amazing information here! I can attest that you definitely want to check and triple check your wires before you cover them up. We have two lights in the front that don’t works because of not double checking our work 🤣
Hey! Love the information. It would be great if you make videos about the above information you’ve provided. And it would be easier for people like me to follow along with your journey. Cheers, safe travels 🙂