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This part of the build is hands down the most complex and expensive part of the build process. Electrical systems can be simplified, however, if you plan on living in your van as you generally would a house, inevitably it is going to become more complex. This entirely depends on what your needs and wants are for your van.
On this page, we’re going to try to give the best overview we can and then if you have more specific questions we would be happy to chat 1 on 1 to help you with those questions.
Before we get into the different types of systems it’s important to determine what kind of system is best for your needs. Having a big system with all the bells and whistles is great and super beneficial but only if you actually need this type of system. You can decide this by deciding what you are going to have in your van that will require the use of power.
Here are some factors to think about when deciding the amount of power/how many batteries you will need:
- What fridge do you have? How much power does it draw?
- Will you have an AC unit? How much power does it draw? How often do you plan on using it?
- Most AC units will have a disclaimer of what minimum size battery bank you should have to power the unit
- Are you going to cook using propane or electric? (This is the BIG one to plan for)
- Are you going to have a microwave or toaster oven?
- What heater are you going to use? How often will you use it?
- Are you going to have a water heater? How often will you use it? How much power does it use?
Once you have gone through that list to determine what your power needs are you can determine the size of system you will need.
To give you an example of what this looks like, we have 600ah of Battle Born lithium batteries and an alternator charger, use an electric cooking system (induction cooktop and a toaster oven), and have an air conditioner that we use sparingly and still have to be conscious and conserve our power at times. That said, you should calculate your personal expected power draw before you even start and if you can, overcompensate, because not having enough power to cook, use your air conditioner, charge all of your electronics, take a shower, or even turn on your lights really stinks!
So how do you keep your batteries charged?
There are 3 main ways to charge up your battery bank:
Shore Power
This is an option you should definitely include in your electrical system so if you decide to stay at a campground or visit friends and family you can charge up fully while you’re there. However, this option will be used much less if you plan on living/staying off grid. Chances are you want to say on those epic pieces of BLM land, right? Us too, so we don’t use our shore power inlet much, but always make sure to get charged up before we leave home!
Solar Power
Maximizing the amount of solar panels you put on your roof is very important because it means you’re charging up any time the sun is out. There is only so much you can do with the roof of your van with wanting to have your fan, AC unit, a small place to sit, and solar panels. This is where you need to get creative so you can maximize the space for your needs. We decided to help maximize our roof rack by using walkable solar panels! You can find other options for walkable solar panels down below.
Alternator charger
We cannot recommend an alternator charger enough because you’re always going to be driving from place to place so why not charge up your system while you are driving. Here is the alternator charger we used in our van – and you can find other options below as well!
EV Charger
This is one option that we haven’t tried but have read on other blog posts that with the right adapters it can charge your house batteries. We are not sure about the legality of this or how safe it is for your system, so try this at your own risk. This can be a great option to get charged back up if you haven’t been driving as much if it’s been cloudy, or if you don’t want to spend money on a campground. Trust us this happens more than you think.
Below are a few different types of systems you could go with
Keep in mind we are going to list some different types for all types of budgets but if you have the ability going with the first option in our opinion is so worth it and will hold its value and is so worth it in the long run. **
Option 1: Battle Born Batteries and Victron Components
This is the option that we have in our van and cannot recommend it enough. Getting all of the components is very straight forward because you can order them all from Battleborn and know that you’re getting quality products from trusted professionals. Their customer service is unmatched and their staff is incredibly knowledgable and willing to help you work through any issues you have with your system. If this is your first build you probably have a lot of questions regarding what you will need specifically, Battle Born is the perfect place to go because they will take the time to listen to everything you want and need and can customize an entire package for you. This was super helpful for us because it meant we didn’t have to worry about trying to piece things together ourselves. Battle Born also has kits ready for sale on their website but if there are things you want to add or questions to make sure you are getting everything you need, give them a call and they will make sure you are hooked up with everything you may need. You can even get quality solar panels from them in your bundle. They really are a one stop shop for all your needs, which leads me to my next point. Battle Born comes with an amazing warranty so you have the piece of mind that if something were to happen they are going to be able to assist you and get your problem fixed. And the great thing about getting your Victron products from them is that they are already setup to work with the batteries making installing much easier. If you can’t tell, we love them, and hope you have a great experience working with them as well!
- Pro-tip: When buying these products, buy them all from BattleBorn directly as a bundle. This way is cheaper and easier to get everything from one place. You can even contact their amazing customer service and add on to your bundle for your specific needs. If you do not know what all you need, call them up and walk them through what you are going to have and they will get you everything you need. We cannot recommend doing it this way enough.
Option 2: Renogy
This is the option for those who are going for a minimal setup in their van. If you chose this option I would still recommend adding at least one more lithium battery and adding a DC-DC charger which will allow you to charge from your alternator while driving. If you are choosing this option your power needs most likely look like this: you are using propane for cooking, no air conditioner but 2 fans instead, you could have a water heater but would recommend using sparingly, you only have a 2000W inverter which means only using large plug-in items one at a time (like a hair dryer and nothing else at the same time).
This setup is great and much more affordable if you don’t plan on using so much power, it would be plenty to keep all your devices charged, power your lights, a heater, a fridge, and all things with a low power draw (most 12v things).
Option 3: Mismatched
There are so many different brands out there that you could piece your system together with. You could even mix and matchall the components that are in the first two options above with other brands if you so choose. We don’t have experience or much knowledge of these other products and their performance. In our opinion, the two above options are the most reputable. Something you could consider is choosing all Victron or Renogy components and then going with a cheaper lithium battery if you need to save some money in this area because it’s much easier to swap out a battery later on than it will mess with the rest of your system.
Option 4: Power Bank
Here is another option that could be best for you. If you don’t want to worry about all the complexity that comes with an electrical system you can get a solar generator with solar panels or mount your own solar to the roof that plugs into this generator to keep a charge. This could be a great option if you are using your van for weekend adventures or are using your van more for hauling your gear for mountain biking or something like that. This would be a more all-in-one system to keep all your things charged and could even wire it up to keep a fridge running and some overhead lights. This would mean no outlets located throughout the van but could have an extension cord, or just sit closer to the generator if needed. These are still a bit pricey but would take the work out of running a more complex system and are just using the van for part-time adventures.
Solar Panels
Before choosing your panels, keep in mind that you will need to plan the layout on the roof of your van to accommodate the panels you choose. There are varying watts that these come in and usually, the more watts that they are means the bigger in size the panel is. Look into where you want to put them and how you want to configure them, then you can decide what will fit and what the maximum wattage you can get up there is. Typically 100-watt panels up to 200-watt panels is the max.
Rigid non-walkable
Flexible and walkable (very durable)
If you want a place where you can sit on top of your van we would highly recommend checking out the Merlin Solar panels that are walkable and flexible or the Custom Marine Products solar panels. We have the Merlin Solar Panels on our van, and their performance has been great. We were able to maximize our roof rack by installing these because we can still go up and sit to watch sunsets and sunrises but still have our roof rack covered in solar panels. These are very durable and contain high-grade cells. Many other flexible panels don’t advertise that you can walk on them and may not be as durable. They also come in many different sizes to fit your needs.
** A note about the electrical system options above. There is nothing wrong with spending more now on some things and waiting to upgrade others later. For example, go with all victron components and upgrade batteries later on. Or mix up each component if you think one is more important. We would recommend sticking with one brand or company as much as you can though because this will make installation easier and will definitely make any troubleshooting you may encounter easier as well. Much of this is depends on preference and budget but in our opinion, if you plan on making this your home and want to live in it long term, or even want to have the best potential resale value, going with the quality products really pays off for peace of mind and money in the long run.