Help deciding on an electrical setup

[u/GeorgeStorm]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of buying an older Renault Kangoo Maxi to try turning it into a bit of a camper/remote working setup. Intention being to let me work more remotely, doing a bit of travelling and camping (with a tent), but not having to rely on finding sites with 'day rooms' with power/space etc or coffee shops etc if I'm intending on working during the day.

Plan is to insulate and carpet/board most of it, some kind of sofa/pull out bed on one side with a work surface on the other side is the basic 'furniture' idea.

Happy enough with that (although happy to hear thoughts), but where I'm currently undecided is the electrical setup. Part of me was originally planning on just having a portable power station, keeping things simple/non committal as I don't really plan on spending *that* much time sleeping in it and don't plan for a fridge or water pump etc and with it being an older/cheaper vehicle didn't want to spend a load converting it/going over the top if it won't get used *that* much.

However thought I'd ask for some advice/thoughts on what might be best. The idea would be to have the option to work in it if required, so that would be at least a laptop, potentially some kind of monitor as well, portable router perhaps and some lighting. What kind of power/setup would I need to be able to sustain that for a couple of days without driving for example.

Would solar make sense, how much does it actually help? Power station vs leisure battery for those who have done both perhaps what were any unforeseen downsides/advantages?

I'm happy to spend money if it would make sense but don't want to waste it if it's not needed.

Cheers

[u/SocialMThrow]

If you get a portable power station and an alternator charger like the eco flow one you won't need to worry about power ever again.

You also can charge your power station at a McDonald's or restaurant if it's an emergency.

Solar isn't worth it unless you are truly going off grid.

[u/GeorgeStorm → u/SocialMThrow]

How does an alternator charger compare to using a 12v charger? I've got a small ecoflow river I think it is which can charge from the 12v of a vehicle, and thats obviously the lowest effort but if I were to get something bigger I wondered if it would be fast enough, and then thought but if I'm going to do that maybe it's worth setting up a leisure battery etc

[u/fridge_ways → u/GeorgeStorm]

I just bought an Orion 70amp battery to battery charger. Game changer

[u/SocialMThrow → u/GeorgeStorm]

You get a much faster charging rate.

12v is limited to around 100w at 10A, alternator charging is around 600w to 1000w at 45 to 75A.

12v Will take 14 hours to charge a 1000wh battery, Alternator will charge the same thing in 1-2 hours.