When we started out on this conversion journey, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, was new to us. Don had done some very basic woodworking before, but each step of the way we are researching and learning how to do each task.
The electrical system was the most intimidating part of the project with a steep learning curve. Don spent 2 years slowly learning more about solar and different electrical system set ups. Once we had decided to purchase Battle Born Batteries, they recommended an entire electrical system for us including 3 Gamechanger 3.0 Lithium Ion Batteries and various Victron Energy Components. We can power our entire home (for heat, cooking, outlets, lights, air conditioning, fans etc) from the sun, which we think is pretty damn cool!
We were lucky enough to discover that Victron Energy was holding a training course not too far from us shortly before we began our installation. Don and his dad (a retired electrical engineer) attended.
They had all their questions answered, saw many examples of different off grid set ups and felt better prepared to tackle this task.
This in-person training course was a lucky coincidence for us, but Victron Energy does have an online training course you can find here, plus Battle Born Batteries are very willing to answer questions and help out with your system.
We will be putting out more videos in the future that explain the technical details of our Electrical System Setup and explain what each component does but we do also have a Resources Page that is focused on our Electrical System.
Click Here for Electrical Resource Page
with links to all the products we use in our Electrical System and an explanation of how the different components work together.
This Resource Page will be updated regularly as we add to and improve our own set up over time.
Our vlog/blog/electrical videos are not tutorials, so if you have no experience we would recommend you hire an electrician to help you. We do however hope the resources page will help you get started on your research journey to make the best decisions for your system. We were very grateful to have Don’s dad's help and to make sure we were taking all the correct safety measures.
The past couple months have been an emotional journey for both of us. I (Mela) am preparing for surgery and Don has worked in every spare moment to get us power in the bus. The first step was successful, we have all our 12V DC working and powering our lights and fans. Having power in the bus is like bringing it to life.
Up Next
We continue with the Electrical Installation and AC Power.
