We’d been homeschooling our two boys for years, so transitioning their classroom to the windows of a bus felt like the ultimate upgrade. We’ve been full-time RV living ever since.
Our journey started in a 1960 Silver Eagle with absolutely no intention of living in it. I named it “The Renegade.”
Buying that bus was a nod to my 20’s as a touring musician. I’d spent years on the road in a 15-passenger van, always dreaming of a coach like this. Now, I finally had the rig, but the mission had changed; the ‘tour’ was now about making memories one weekend at a time with my family.
We found the bus was a total people magnet—partly because of its vintage lines, but mostly because of the massive solar array we’d engineered onto the roof. For the kids, it was a dream; they even had beds built into a converted storage bay accessed through a hatch in the floor.
to roam. To go where we felt led and stay as long as the conversation lasted.
After stepping down as a Youth Pastor at our local church, inspired by the thought of traveling, the unplanned destinations became our calling. We spent a year prepping the bus, but we had one non-negotiable: Freedom. We didn’t want our journey to be limited by a power cord or tied only to campgrounds.
Before my time in ministry, I worked as an electrical specialist in the oil fields of Eastern Montana. Utilizing that industrial-grade knowledge and an obsessive deep dive into the world of off-grid solar, I engineered my first system on that Silver Eagle. I knew that if we wanted to be truly self-contained and ready for whatever the road or the Lord had in store, our power system needed to be reliable enough to keep us focused on the people we met, not the battery levels.
By 2024, our “Renegade” lifestyle needed a bigger platform. The boys were outgrowing the floor-hatch bunks, and the vintage engine was ready for a rebuild. We upgraded to a 1996 Prevost—a rig built to go a million miles—and outfitted it with a dedicated bunk room for the kids and, of course, a top-tier power system.
Once we realized we had enough self-contained power to run our entire rig, the world opened up. We found our southern “home base” to kick up our feet between travels on a piece of dirt in Quartzsite, AZ.
The more families we met on the road, the more solar questions I found myself answering. What started as helpful insight turned into several custom installs one winter. In 2025 we took things to the next level, by building a dedicated shop in Quartzsite to provide a secure environment for our clients’ rigs.
What we enjoy most isn’t just the wiring or the lithium—it’s the friendship. There is nothing quite like spending a week with a client against a backdrop of desert mountains and shaking hands with a new friend at the end of a build.
Whether you’re looking for a full shop build in Quartzsite or just need a technical roadmap for your DIY project, let’s get you unplugged.
P.S. Not sure which path is right for you? Check out our Project Gallery to see what a Renegade-spec build looks like.”
Reliable Power for Life Unplugged
From Sprinter Vans to Luxury Motorcoaches
