Loud, smelly, ~half your fuel bill, banned at the best pitches — the generator is the worst part of the day. For a coffee-forward truck, a battery system replaces it; Wattonomy sizes the bank, inverter and charging from your machines and shows where the line is.
A real Wattonomy output — a generator-free food truck
System
24 V
Battery
10.24 kWh
Solar
1400 W
Inverter
MP-II 24/5000 12
SmartSolar 250/701×
200W solar panel7×
Battery → inverter cable7×
Battery → inverter fuse1×
Wire & fuse sizes follow ABYC E-11 — each conductor carries its fuse and stays under a 3% voltage drop.
Built to ABYC standards
Gauge · fuse · volt-drop sized
Every spec sourced
The generator is a fuel, noise and fire problem on wheels.
It costs a fortune to feed, drives customers off with noise and diesel smell, and portable generators are a leading carbon-monoxide hazard — never refuelled safely in a busy truck. A silent battery system removes all of that. Wattonomy sizes it to start your machines and last the day, to ABYC E-11.
Going generator-free in four numbers.
Honest about what battery can replace — and where you still need shore power or split-phase.
What you actually run
Espresso, grinder, fridge, lights, POS — summed as real Wh for a trading day, with each machine’s surge.
Inverter for surge
Sized to start the boiler and compressor, not just run them — the usual reason a battery swap fails.
Battery + charging
A bank to carry the day, topped by solar and driving — and an honest read on when you still want a hookup.
Where the line is
A full kitchen with big simultaneous loads is a 240V split-phase job; the tool flags it and routes you to an electrician.
What you walk away with — free
A validated system sized to your equipment — not a one-size kit
A clean wiring diagram with every cable gauge and fuse spelled out
Cable & fuse sizing with the voltage-drop checked for your run lengths
A shoppable parts list, each line traceable to ABYC or Victron specs
Building it for real? Unlock the build binder.
Free gets you a safe, correctly-sized design. The build binder gets you the documents to build it right — and prove it's right.
Printable wiring diagram, yours to keep & tape inside the truck
Full parts list, every line sourced
The volt-drop & fusing calculation trail — the "why" behind every spec
The build binder is a one-time unlock — no subscription, no auto-renew.
Questions
Can a food truck really run without a generator?
A coffee-forward or light-cooking truck on a single 120V inverter, yes — silent and fume-free. A full kitchen with a two-group machine or many big loads at once needs 240V split-phase; the tool tells you which you are rather than guessing.
How much does a generator actually cost to run?
Fuel for a running generator is often a large share of a mobile kitchen’s running costs, plus oil and refills — a sized battery system runs on sun and stored charge with no daily fuel.
What about places that ban generators?
That’s the real win — silent, emission-free power is welcome at indoor venues, markets and events that cap noise or ban fuel, opening pitches a generator locks you out of.
Do I need an account?
No. Design the whole system free, no email required. Accounts are only for saving builds or the printable build binder.
Is this just trying to sell me a kit?
No. The parts list is vendor-neutral and standards-referenced — buy the components anywhere. We make the design, not the markup.
The standards we build to
Plain version: these are the recognized rulebooks your design is sized against, so the numbers hold up to a surveyor, an inspector or an insurer.
ABYC E-11The US standard for AC & DC wiring on boats — what a surveyor or insurer actually checks.
Wattonomy applies these standards in its calculations. It is not certified, sponsored or endorsed by ABYC, ISO, NFPA or Victron — it sizes your design to meet what they require, and shows the working.
Sized and checked to ABYC E-11. Last reviewed June 2026 — see the full methodology for the exact rules behind every number and how each design is validated.
Built by anABYC Certified Master Technician