Lotus Trooper total off-grid Redarc solar setup

[@RustyCandyAdventures]

Been looking into. Greer's great Aussie adventures as great info. Also ALLOFFroad 4x4 adventures as great info on redarc

[@SarahandKeelanTravels]

Loving the content guys!

[@VetinaVan]

Thanks Guys! There is some pretty epic country up here in the North West!

[@dantheman6159]

Great set up mate. We did something similar but a tad different. We also had the RedArc Manager 30 in our JB Scorpion Sting with 2x100 Ah lithium And 450W solar from factory. Constantly struggled with power. Added additional 540W of solar panels set up as a different string to the existing 450 W of solar so 2 Solar strings In total. To bring the charge into the batteries we Went with 2 x Victron Solar MPPT 100/50 Bluetooth solar chargers one for each of the strings and upgraded the batteries from 2x100 Ah to 2x240 Ah lithium to give 480Ah in total. There is also a provision for our 200W portable solar panel through an external Anderson plug on the side of the van. Can run all appliances Incl. Aircon, toasters, induction cooktop, kettle etc. The RedArc BMS30 is now purely a dc to dc or the mains 240V charger. It Doesn’t get hot anymore and we replenish batteries super quick and haven’t had to plug into 240v since this power upgrade. We are in Melbourne lockdown at the moment, supposed to go to Tassie in 2 weeks but cancelled it for now. Will hit the road and stay mainland as soon as the borders open up. Love following your travels and honest reviews and feedback. Living life as it should be. Cheers, Dan

[@VetinaVan]

Cheers Dan, feel for you in lockdown mate, its really tuff! We were going to come back to melb for Xmas but have given that idea the boot and may well do a wet season in either Broome or Darwin!

[@dantheman6159]

@@VetinaVan good idea, stay away from Vic id you can as it’s only a one way ticket at the moment. The wet season won’t be hard at all compared to the lockdown. Enjoy the travels and thanks for documenting them so others can live through your experiences!

[@johndabbler3097]

Gday, Are both solar controllers connected to the one battery bank all connected together , ie in series So on one controller you might have two panels as smaller amp controller and then on the other controller which is bigger connects to other panels. Do you connect your panels in series or parallel. Also is your batteries connected in series or parallel. Would be to see a closer look at the battery wiring

[@VetinaVan]

Hey John, its all series mate so all still based on 12v. There 2 separate solar arrays on the roof, the panels in each array are in series. As you have said above, the bigger of the two solar arrays goes to the 50amp charger, then the rest to the 30amp charger. The batteries are connected in series, one bank, 12v which both chargers connect too. So 2 solar arrays, 2 chargers, 1 battery bank. Thought about going 24v or even 48v which has a lot of benefits but stuck with 12v to keep the system simple, just means bigger gauge wiring. 👍🍻

[@johndabbler3097]

@@VetinaVan Thank you, very much appreciated 👍🍻

[@shannacorney8386]

When no feed in at night, how does the fridge and air con and main utilities go with the inverter. Does it drain your batteries over night?

[@VetinaVan]

We don't run the inverter all night, only if we need the air-conditioning on for a while. Once its dark we generally open everything up. Main utilities all run on 12v, we are usually on 70-80% in the morning. Much lower if we have been running the air-conditioning though. (Which is not often).. 👍👍

[@bazradventures]

Great idea and thanks for sharing

[@matthewfinnigan3862]

Great video thanks for the information. Is it fair to say that by dividing the solar watts by 20 will give you a rough idea of amps?

[@VetinaVan]

Hey Matthew, yeh pretty much, assuming your panel voltage is around 19v, remember that is under perfect conditions. Correct angle to the sun and 20 - 25 degrees, if the angle changes or temperature varies then efficiency of the panel drops.

[@matthewfinnigan3862]

@@VetinaVan yes I figured that. Lotus is starting my build shortly so just trying to figure out how much solar to get. Currently have 2x200ah and 4x170 solar. Looking to see if I can get 6x170 solar and put them into a Redarc BCDC1250D 50amp charger to get the most out of them. With perfect conditions that equates to roughly 51amps.

[@VetinaVan]

@@matthewfinnigan3862 never enough power! We are just ordering a new trooper too and have told lotus that I'll do the solar myself.... I reckon I can get 2.2kw up there using 300w pannels. Still researching though..

[@eisbar7354]

Thanks, very interesting.

[@TechStories79]

Top idea!

[@VetinaVan]

Thanks! 👍

[@GrabLifeByTheGourlays]

I love the fact you don't use gas and are all 12v. Do you ever have the need for an oven like you would use with a Weber to do a roast?

[@VetinaVan]

We don't have a Weber or any gas BBQ but we do have the gas oven in the van. Tania uses it every now and again - but for cooking we use the induction cooker which is awesome. Keep in mind, we still use 240volts, but only via the inverter that runs from the batteries.

[@GrabLifeByTheGourlays]

@@VetinaVan Good to know and something to think about! I keep seeing lots of people with induction cooktops now. Did you get that during the build or aftermarket?

[@traciesmith7436]

Hi guys love your videos watch them religiously. Can you tell me the app you use for fishing in WA you mentioned it in a previous episode but I can’t find it. Thanks 👍

[@VetinaVan]

Hi Tracie, the app is Recfishwest, it is awesome and a must if wetting a line in WA. 🍻👍

[@traciesmith7436]

@@VetinaVan thanks guys

[@AussieVanAdventures]

Nice 👍

[@VetinaVan]

Thanks ✌

[@garyloy9451]

Thanks for the vid - awesome idea -i have a lotus trooper 209 and thinking of doing same - how/where did you get the additional cabling in through the roof and down the walls into the batteries via the redarc BCDC? Cheer, Gary

[@VetinaVan]

Hey Gary, I ran 56amp cable through the roof behind the fridge then dropped it down to where the water pumps are under the fridge. I then ran the cable through the floor where the water pipes run and into the false floor above the checker plate. Then up into the battery compartment under the lounge on the other side of the van and into the bcdc. It took a lot of thought to get right but I am pretty sure this was the best way to do it. Let me know if u want more info.

[@garyloy9451]

@@VetinaVan Hey Marcus - thanks for the quick reply - yep that makes sense - i assume you accessed the rear of the fridge by removing the outside vents? My lotus came standard with a manager 30 and a BCDC1250 - the latter being the sole solar controller and the manager 30 taking 240v and the car 12v (and no solar input) which makes your idea super simple for me - i can just add solar via the manager 30😁. Glad to see you guys are on the road - we (nsw based) missed the qld border closure by 4 days and were confined to NSW which the subsequent lockdown has meant we had to return home😖

[@VetinaVan]

@@garyloy9451 4 days! Sux mate, so lucky to be out here in the North West. With your setup are you maxing out the 50 amps? If not then what I did will not work as you would need more solar.

[@garyloy9451]

@@VetinaVan hey Marcus - ive not seen it max out but i currently have 680W on the roof with enough space add another 3 x 120W which I'll do if needed (or part thereof)- i think the simpliest thing for me to do initially is to take a 50A circuit from the Manager 30 to an external anderson plug and run some portable solar into that. Hope you guys have a great trip - will keep an eye on your travels- hope to see you on the road one day🤞🤞

[@garyloy9451]

One last question if i may - it looks like there is a panel under the tv aerial? Did you do anything special where the two contact each other when the unit is wound down?

[@samlewis4283]

Hi, new subscriber and going back and watching a lot of your videos. We have a 400 ah lithium setup in our van with 540 watt of solar on the roof. What solar blanket do you use? I'm struggling to find anything that's reasonably priced and lithium compatible. Cheers and keep up the great content!

[@VetinaVan]

Hey Sam, I just use a cheap 200 watt kings one, puts out around 10amps which helps a little. If you have 540 of solar then you should be getting 20-30amps in good conditions which should be enough unless you are smashing your batteries down past 50%. My blanket plugs directly into the existing solar array, so its unregulated, you should only ever use your one main MPPT solar charger. 👍🍻