Part 6: Electrical
Finally! A section about something that I actually went to school for and know what the hell I’m talking about :) At least I hope! Let’s get right to it.
What I did, what I used, how long it took, and how much it cost?
I decided to go with solar for my electrical setup. In order to do this I used two 12V 100W Renogy monocyrstalline solar panels, a Goal Zero Yeti 1000 Lithium, a 12V DC fuse block, and an AC power strip. As you’ll see later, the Goal Zero Yeti really does it all so that is literally my entire Electrical setup, less all of the devices that connect to it, which includes the cabin lights, fridge, induction cooktop, electric kettle, fan, and our devices.
Installation of all electrical components took me about 20 hours, which came from about a half day doing the necessary research to make sure I don’t get an electrical fire in my van, about a day to put up and wire the solar panels, and about another day to wire and connect everything else in the van (mostly the lights and fan).
Coming in as easily the most expensive part of the build, doubling even the next most expensive thing, the electrical all in was roughly $1600.
Why I did it (including counterpoints)
Two 12V 100W Renogy Monocyrstalline Solar Panels: In terms of why I chose monocrystalline over polycrystalline (or even thin film), I decided to go with mono because it is the most efficient panel (thus taking up the least amount of space), and it is also the most durable. At this point poly is just about as good as mono so there wouldn’t have been much of a downside to get poly, but it’s also not that much cheaper than mono. I didn’t even consider thin film because they’re just not at the same level as mono and poly yet, but I did for a minute consider getting flexible panels instead of the rigid panels you see on my rig. Ultimately, since they were being attached to my roof and exposed to the elements, I went with rigid for peace of mind. I have heard the flexible panels are nearly as durable but the tech is newer so I decided to go with the most tested and reliable. In terms of how many panels I got, this was all based on my battery size and estimated power consumption per day. I detail the exercise I went through below in the build tips section to show how I got to 200W as my need.
Goal Zero Yeti 1000 Lithium Ion with MPTT Charge Controller: For a basic solar electrical setup there are some standard components that everyone needs. Three of these are a charge controller to manage the energy you’re getting from your solar panels and a battery to store that energy. In addition to these two components, you also need a DC to AC power inverter if you’re planning to have AC power. Recently manufacturers have started to create all-in-one devices (like they GZ Yeti) that have all three of these components, and more, included. While these are convenient and reliable (when purchased from a reputable brand like GZ) most people buy all three of these components separately, as it is typically cheaper and more customizable to buy your own charge controller, battery, and inverter. Think of it like buying a Mac desktop computer vs. buying all the parts and making your own PC. I was fully prepared to set everything up from scratch, but after calculating my electrical needs, I realized that the GZ Yeti 1000 basically met all of my power needs. Now, the price tag on these units is pretty high but once I saw one that was being resold from GZ as “out of the box” for 35% less, it just seemed like too good of a deal. If you go with this option, in order to make the whole thing really sing, you do need to buy the MPTT charge controller extension from GZ, but that is well worth it to increase your input efficiency over the standard PWM controller that comes with the unit. I understand my electrical system is now “boxed” in because of this setup, but I detail below many of the reasons why this was a great decision for me (and consequently may not be for you).
12V DC Fuse Block and AC Power Strip: Every van or RV setup is likely to have a DC power and AC power setup, and for good reason. DC is going to be much more efficient than your AC power for simple electronics such as your lighting, fan, or even fridge. Additionally, your solar and battery work in DC so no conversion for the power means again more efficiency. There are obviously limits to DC such as high voltage applications, and henceforth AC is often better for that. Additionally, AC is the most common power source found in homes therefore most appliances, like a cooktop, kettle, your computer, etc. use AC power to charge or power them. Subsequently, I have a DC fuse block that serves as the central location to powering all my DC needs, and I bought a simple AC power strip for AC. With DC I don’t think there’s really any alternative to a fuse block, and they do exactly what you need. For AC, you can (and should) set up a circuit breaker if you have a custom setup, but one advantage of the GZ Yeti is that they have an AC outlet built in that has it’s own set of breakers, so literally all I have to do is plug into that and I’m ready to go. The power strip does somewhat limit the number of sources I can plug in, but in many ways I find that as an advantage because it forces me to be conscious with my power, and now just have a million things plugged in and waste energy. So far it has been a great lesson in energy conservation!
12V LED Lights and Light Strips: I’m including lighting in this section as well since it covers a few different areas of the van. I went with 4 LED lights in the ceiling that are all lined up together in parallel and connected to a master dimmer switch. This has been plenty of light (LEDs are bright as hell!) and having them all on a master dimmer has been great. I’ve seen many people put them all on individual switches and dimmers which is nice, but honestly there’s not many times when you don’t want them all on or off so it’s worked well so far. I also set up a set of strip lighting in the kitchenette, so sometimes we elect to have just those on and not the cabin lights on and that makes it so that the bed area can be dark while there is just soft light in the kitchen area. That’s helped supplement the decision to tie all the cabin lights together, and still allows for there to be limited light in the van if needed. I think you could go through the hassle of wiring AC lighting but I really don’t see any benefit to it in a van at all. It’s just too overcomplicated for the needs in a van, unless you’re really doing something custom and over the top.
What went well
All-in-one Battery, Charge Controller, and Inverter: I honestly think I’m the first rig I’ve seen that’s used a Yeti as their all-in-one battery, charge controller, and inverter. I can certainly see why because all-in-one setups do have certain limitations and if your requirements exceed them, then they are no use! These limitations include (but are not limited to): 1000Wh of storage, 1500W AC inverter, and 40A max DC source. So, if you need more storage, want to power some pretty serious AC devices, or have a ton of DC sources, then maybe the setup is not for you. Additionally, if at any time in the future you plan to add on and reach these limitations, it again may not be the best setup. However, if you find yourself under all of these limits, then I really think the all-in-one is an incredible deal. There’s something about it’s compact size, reliability, and built-in failsafes that make electrical for your rig something you need to stress about less. Electrical is not inherently difficult, but when it goes wrong, it can go wrong really badly, and cause you a lot of headache. Knowing that I have a device that has all of the necessary power failsafes included to not let a short wreck one of my hundred dollar components, or even worse start a fire, is a peace of mind that can’t be beat for the price for a novice builder. Additionally, with the all-in-one everything electrical is in one place with an easy to ready and useful heads up display already out of the box. It’s nice to be able to simply open my cabinet door and check on the whole electrical setup all at once. It might not be for everyone, but if you’re going for a simple electrical setup, then maybe give it a try!
What didn't go well/What I might’ve done differently
Battery Cabin Space: In order to easily access the battery and keep it safe, I secured it in my cabinet that can be locked from the outside. The only issue with this is that the battery just fits inside the cabinet, but subsequently it has had some overheating warnings pop up. I did talk with GZ and they have assured me that the warning comes on well before the battery would ever fail due to overheating, and they even have a failsafe built in in order to kill the unit well before a temperature that would cause damage to the unit (all-in-ones for the win!). That being said, I did have to add in a fan and a vent in the cabinet to pull hot air out so that the warning is not always on all of time. Just a minor inconvenience and has not caused any actual issues yet, but it all could have been solved by just giving the battery some more space in the rig somewhere to breathe.
Solar Panel Install: To install my solar I bolted the panels onto my van roof. This meant putting 16 holes in the roof. One advantage of this is I know they aren’t going anywhere, but I have seen other people go with alternative approaches (like liquid nails or industrial velcro) to attach them. I’m not sure if those approaches have worked out well for others, but I haven’t heard otherwise in my research, so in the future I’d love to see what the bets way to attach the panels is, because anytime you can avoid drilling holes in the car, I think that’s a win.
More Power: As I’ve been talking about this whole time, I went through a process to plan for power consumption (which you can finally read in the next section) and it worked out great. So far we have never run out of power in the van, but we have gotten down to about a 25% battery a few times. When this happens you’re not SOL, but you do need to then make appropriate decisions about the battery use. For example, if we know we’re low on battery, it’s cloudy out, and we won’t be driving much that day, we do have to make conscious decisions about how to use the battery, such as maybe not cooking something like pasta, that would be a big drain on the battery. For our needs it’s been totally fine, but it would be nice to never have to monitor the battery at all, so in the future, I may think about getting a power setup that is a bit overkill. Like 2x the intended consumption, so that way it is never in doubt. But with more energy comes more initial cost, so again there’s always tradeoffs to think about with every decision.
Build tips
Planning for Power Consumption: Ok, I feel like this entire post has been leading up to this section, so let’s crack on! Before you make decisions about your setup, you need to get a good understanding of what your power consumption will be. In order to do this, the best way it to come up with a list of all the devices that you’ll need to power and for each device estimate the number of hours you’ll be using it on a given day, so that you can then determine how much power it will need on a given day. An easy example of this is that say your 12V lights are 3W hours, you are planning to have 4 of them, and you intend to have them on full brightness for 6 hours a day. With this information, you will know that for a given day, your lights will need 72W of power (4 lights X 3W hours per light X 6 hours = 72 W). A more complicated example of this would be if you have devices that run on a duty cycle. What that means is that while the device is on, it does not require power at all times but instead it cyclicly pulls power from its source. A good example of this is a fridge, which will power its compressor to get to its desired temperature, and then shut the compressor off until it notices that it must cool the unit again, at which point it will draw power again. Some devices tell you the average power consumption, but if they do not, or if you want a more realistic number for your needs, I recommend running tests with your devices where you hook them up to your battery, run them as intended, and determine what the overall power draw was for that activity, and use that number in your calculations. Once you’ve determined all of your power consumption for a day, you’ll now be able to understand how big of a battery you may need. In my case I found everyday I’ll need 300Wh to power my ongoing devices, which gives me 700Wh in my 1000Wh source to power other items. I felt this was an acceptable amount, because it meant that if I am not able to get any power from solar or running the car, the battery can do the bare minimum for 3 days before I absolutely have to find a power source. Additionally, if I know I am getting good power, it’s ample energy to use throughout the day to have the battery support additional tasks that I didn’t plan for (such as cooking more, or charging more devices, etc.). Now, as I mentioned above, if you want more peace of mind, don’t be afraid to add an additional 15% to 20% of power needs to your calculations, or even more. Ultimately if power if essential for your needs then don’t cut it close! But if you’re okay with maybe running out and need to “rough” it for a few days, then you can save some extra money and space by getting a smaller setup.
Electrical Diagram: Once you know your demands, take some time and make a quick diagram so that you know you have everything accounted for in your setup. This doesn’t have to be one of those incredibly detailed or fancy drawings you see of complicated electrical setups, but just sketch out all the devices and connection points so that you don’t forget something, and have a reference point once you get going. This is really helpful to make sure you connect all your lights correctly (parallel vs. series) and don’t forget critical components like switches or breaks. You can see mine in the photo gallery for reference.
Wire Gauge and Running Wire: Not all wire is created equal! Before you buy and install wire for your power needs, be sure to get the right gauge and to understand the difference between solid and stranded. As for the gauge, wire creates resistance, especially as you try to carry a power source over a very long distance, so the longer the distance and the higher the source (current) the thicker the wire you need to carry it. Check out a char like this one to make sure you don’t run into any wire issues and potentially overheat your setup. Then once you have your wire, remember that at some point you may have an issue and may need to put in a new one! Because of that, try to run your wire through conduit of some kind (plastic, pvc, metal, etc.) so that you can always fish wire back through where you need it. Take the time to do this now, so that in the future, you don’t need to take out a wall just to run some wire!
