| When I built out a van into an RV, I got to run a new electrical system for it — one based around the 12V automotive battery. It turns out that there is a small industry out there that serves both RVs (and boats as well) that is 12V/DC based. Lights, pumps, refrigerators, fans, all running straight off a 12V power bank. "Cigarette lighter" outlets stand in for wall outlets for USB-style chargers, etc. The 12V/DC battery system in the van is of course charged from both solar on the roof of the van and from the van's alternator (when the van battery is topped off and the van is under power of course). I did add an inverter to supply 110V/AC for a pair of traditional electrical outlets I installed in the kitchen area of the van/RV. These are primarily used for plugging in wall-wart style chargers for the laptops. (My Kill-A-Watt suggests that my rice cooker and even the electrical kettle would, just barely, function on the current provided by the inverter but RV-life tends toward minimalism so those extra appliances I've left behind.) In any event, the whole experience did have me wondering if I could run a parallel 12V/DC electrical system in a new home and do away with a lot of the step-up/down of AC. Definitely could do with some kind of modern outlet (USBC?) rather than the cigarette lighter outlets, ha ha. |