Electrical

Jul 31

Building the electrical system was one of the most satisfying projects, and as I write this, sitting in the van in a forest, with lights, laptop, fan, starlink, onewheel charging, I can say that the power system is the key, central feature of the van’s mobility.

Draws

This follows the pareto principle, 80% of the power comes from 20% of the devices, and those tend to be the big AC appliances. The DC draws are so small by comparison they can practically be lumped together and handwaived.

Water heater (1500W) (AC)
AirCon (300W) (AC)
Laptop (100W) (AC)
Everything else (fan, toilet, lights) (100W) (DC)

Sources of Power

Most vans have a subset of these, such as alternator-only (no solar) or solar only (no alternator).

Car alternator (while driving)
Solar Panels
Shore power

Victron MultiPlus inverters contain a charger and a transfer switch. These features allow the batteries to, respectively, be charged up from shore power, and for the van’s AC circuits to be directly run off shore power while plugged in, bypassing the inverter function altogether.