A secondary 'internal' battery is going to be our next step (phase 1). We're going to wire it up such that it should only pull charge from the main 'starter' batter when the van is running. After that, we're going to snag some solar panels (ones that are portable with a long extension cord so we don't have to park directly in the sun all the time) and start capturing all that sweet free solar energy (phase 2).

Hoping to have phase 1 done before spring time, and then phase 2 for the summer, I hope!

I hear you about paying some debts off... It hasn't exactly been cheap finding a decent van, and then putting some money into it to get it tuned up to a point where it should live for a while -- then the buildout was a week of time for me to figure out wtf I was doing, and about $800 in materials... Shit adds up quick!