Norvics New Troopy Setup

[Sheppo]

On 2/5/2021 at 8:04 AM, Norvic said:

Basically was a matter of transferring gear, cleaning up with new carpet covering and installing in new Toyota Troop Carrier from the old 1986 Troopy, "Back to the Future" project. No photos of old Troopy setup as took very few photos back in those days. Of interest perhaps old 86 Troopy cost 50 ozs new, was very basic, leaf springs front and back and a diesel motor that couldn`t pull your hat off but will go forever. New Troopy cost 35ozs has coils on front, A/C, Navi Screen, electric windows, locking front and rear diffs, electric winch, V8 diesel that`l pull a CAT etc etc. but fortunately the body is still the same thus everything fitted, holes were in same place.  Solar charges 2x125A/hr AGMs, which powers all including a 2000W Inverter for this coffee snob, nothing beats an Expresso as one waits for the sun to come up. 

Separate Fridge and Freezer accessible from sliding side windows, I camp on a stretcher with a swag and awning sides for when cold or wet. Have a small 11ft off-road caravan but rarely use as is too much trouble getting it into our rugged NQ OZ. I think the below photos tell the story.

 

What size solar system have you got on there?

[Norvic]

34 minutes ago, Sheppo said:

What size solar system have you got on there?

2x200watt and 2x80watt= 560 watt. The big issue with solar panels fixed on a vehicles roof rack is they rarely can output their max because of the angle they receive sunlight plus shading. More panels is a compromise to allow time detecting rather than setting up solar panels for max output, now at less than a $ a watt compared to $20 a watt when I first got into solar tis not a big compromise.

[Sheppo]

51 minutes ago, Norvic said:

2x200watt and 2x80watt= 560 watt. The big issue with solar panels fixed on a vehicles roof rack is they rarely can output their max because of the angle they receive sunlight plus shading. More panels is a compromise to allow time detecting rather than setting up solar panels for max output, now at less than a $ a watt compared to $20 a watt when I first got into solar tis not a big compromise.

Aah thanks mate, mine will be on my camper trailer set up so won’t have any worries with moving on a vehicle.

[Sheppo]

Just ordered my system today, 2 x 100ah Enerdrive lithium batteries, enerdrive dc/dc charger and 340W worth of solar, hopefully it works ?? Need to find a few ounces to pay it back ??

[Norvic]

On ya Sheppo, that`ll be a top set up and will keep the detectors charged up for that lovely heavy stuff, plus plenty for extended stays out there. The Enerdrive DC/DC will let you add to in the future should you need it, plus 200AH of lithium will handle such addons with plenty of capacity for loads.

[Sheppo]

I was more worried about keeping stuff cold but yes should be more than enough. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a nice morning brew out of it too ?

[Jonathan Porter]

Having lots of battery storage is great but it’s no good to you if you can’t put power back into the system. This is not a reflection of any of the above mentioned systems just my personal observation based on many years of off the grid living when out bush prospecting. 

Lithium is amazing because the batteries are lighter and you can use 80% of the capacity, but when the system gets down you need to put the energy back in so plenty of solar is the answer. Whenever cloudy weather appears I always start using my generator for an hour at night and an hour in the morning to keep the batteries topped up rather than run the system down and then trying to recover. In winter you only really get 7 or so hours a day of decent sun to refresh the storage as well as run the fridges ect during the warmer part of the day, so if for instance the clouds roll in around lunch time then you don’t run the generator that night you’ve been running off battery storage for 22 hours till the sun becomes effective again around 10 am the next morning if the clouds come in again after lunch as they often do then your system will not have recovered enough. If the clouds remain you are then well behind the 8 ball and will have no choice but to try to catch up with either the DC to DC charger off the vehicle or using a generator, both of which take time when the storage gets down below 50%. 60 amps of charging ability is the minimum IMHO with lithium systems because they can be drawn down to the 80% of capacity level. If my systems have not recovered off solar by lunch time I start to think about using the generator.

All my systems have been designed to have a balance between the amount of solar relative to the storage capacity and the draw required by fridges etc. It’s much better to have a smaller battery that can be charged up quicker if solar panel space is limited. Obviously if your system is rigged into your vehicle and you drive everywhere with a DC/DC charger this is less of an issue but with a camper trailer that’s in a fixed position this can become an issue even with solar panels strategically placed all around the camp (also a theft risk). Flat packing solar panels take up space and require set up when at your camp so keep this in mind when you design your system. 

JP

 

[Sheppo]

23 minutes ago, Jonathan Porter said:

Having lots of battery storage is great but it’s no good to you if you can’t put power back into the system.

 

Jeez now you’ve got me wondering if it is going to be enough ??

[Jonathan Porter]

200 amps of lithium should be OK even for 2 compressor fridges, just have a decent charger and a genie as a back up if the weather goes south on you. WA in winter in the  Eastern Gold Fields the day times temps don’t get much above 24 most days so the fridges are very effecient, night times go down to minus so they cycle less frequently. But there can be a lot of cloud cover at times so using the generator is a lot more effective to keep things topped up rather than having lots of solar panels scattered all around the camp running the risk of wind blowing them around and damaging them.