About us
The history of Climbingvan & Nomadic Energy
Climbingvan is an online resource about self-build van conversions and off-grid electrical systems. Our website contains hundreds of detailed and informative articles, and hosts our webshop and our electrical system design service, Nomadic Energy.
Nomadic Energy was formed after the success of our best selling book, The Van Conversion Bible, to make off-grid energy simple for everyone. We created a service where we could understand a customer’s needs and requirements, carefully calculate and specify their system and supply every component they would need to install it. As well as this, we provide a bespoke wiring diagram and installation support at no extra cost. Over the past year, we’ve designed over 2,000 bespoke electrical systems.
To achieve this, we needed to think differently, by developing clever systems and automating as much of the process as possible, whilst always ensuring an engineer is on hand to provide guidance and support. We are keen to continue to disrupt the industry by staying ahead of the curve on new technologies and developing our own solutions.
January 2019
We buy ‘Ringo’, a bright yellow ex-DHL delivery van, and start converting him into our little home on wheels.
March 2020
A week after our conversion is complete, the UK is plunged into its first nationwide lockdown. With our travel plans scuppered, we decide to use our backgrounds in science and engineering to write the definitive book about how to convert a campervan.
March 2021
After almost a year of hard work, The Van Conversion Bible is released. It’s currently the bestselling van conversion book, receiving glowing reviews worldwide.
April 2021
Fed up of living for weekends and holidays, we give up the stability of our 9-5 office jobs for life on the road, and move into Ringo full-time. This allows us to work remotely from the road with the mountains as our backdrop.
September 2021
We launch Nomadic Energy, our off-grid electrical system design service.
November 2022
Nomadic Energy wins Service of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, and The Van Conversion Bible wins Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book of the Year, and the Best Indie Book Award.
Now
Since launching Nomadic Energy, we’ve been overwhelmed by the demand for off-grid electrical systems. Because of this, we’ve grown so that we can help more people. We’re now a team of 13, living and working nomadically across the world. Everyone in an engineering role comes from a technical engineering or science background to ensure that your system is designed by an expert. We all live an off-grid nomadic lifestyle, so you can purchase your system from likeminded people.
Latest news
Meet our off-grid team
Charlie Low
With a fascination for space and a love of maths, Charlie used to dream of becoming an astronaut. After studying Astrophysics at university, she went on to work as Head of Analytics and Insight for an adventure travel company.
After spending almost 5 years office-bound, she handed in her notice so she could swap her 9-5 job for life on the road. Charlie is our spreadsheet ninja, photographer, digital marketing whizz and psyche-bringer.
Charlie loves nothing more than being outdoors, whether climbing a rugged sea cliff, bivying up an alpine mountain, or wild swimming in a chilly, glacial lake.
Dale Comley
Dale has always been intrigued by how things work, and spent much of his childhood building and inventing things. After finishing his degree in Product Design, he worked as an engineer in a design consultancy, before going on to become Lead Engineer at a large tech company.
Since quitting his job, he’s enjoyed swapping daily commutes for early morning adventures. Dale is our design guru, blue sky thinker, problem solver, drone pilot and part-time sherpa.
Dale has been climbing since he was tiny, and loves nothing more than a bit of suffering, whether that’s climbing a big wall or carrying a bag that’s almost as heavy as he is.
An expert in helping people find the perfect products to custom design the van of their dreams, Adam is an engineer who leads Nomadic Energy’s technical team.
Paul has over 20 years experience working as a technical engineer, and has been living and travelling in his campervan for over a year.
After finishing an engineering degree in Naval Architecture, Beril decided to convert a van so she could climb, ski and work nomadically.
Kaegh is a true off-grid engineer, he lives off-grid in Portugal and works to help people with their own off-grid systems.
Will has a Mechanical Engineering degree, and recently converted a van to explore the world with his partner and their adventure cat.
Dan is an aerospace engineer with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is currently travelling Europe in his self-built van.
A physicist currently converting a van, Harry is our newest team member. He researches and writes technical articles for our website.
Molly lives and works nomadically from her campervan. She has always loved travel, and is currently exploring France.
Becky is a lover of travel, exploration, and cats. Currently ‘between vans’, she and her partner Millie are working on their new home.
After a speedy van conversion in 2023, Holly set off on an adventure across Europe. She is a marketer looking to make the world a better place, driving positive change on a global scale.
Want to join our off-grid team? Check out our jobs page to see the current roles we’re recruiting for.
