Hi,
We run a VW camper with a normal waeco style fridge and a small amount of lights. Our problem is that our leisure battery (85Ah) will barely last 1 day without hook up. It is two years old but still seems to be in good shape We like to camp wild and would like to be able to live off grid for three nights with guaranteed cold beer.
My question is, what type and power rating of solar panel would we need in order to achieve this?
im not an electrical expert but i might be able to offer some advice!
i also have a van with a leisure battery and use it only to run lights, a flat tv & dvd, charge phones and ipad and to play music through a stereo system.
the lights are all led type which helps a lot.
i have a 100Ah battery and i use a 100w panel on the van roof through a charge controller. it runs everything fine and the battery charges from daylight ( not just sunlight ) till dusk. you could use a bigger battery and a bigger panel to charge it up.
my battery is usually fully charged by around 2-3pm ( indicated by a green lamp on the charge controller lighting up.
by using the battery as much as possible its giving the battery a good cycling which is healthy for the battery but dont flatten it completely.
id imagine your fridge possibly has a heavyish current draw so you might be better with 2 x 100Ah batteries wired in parallel - effectively giving you twice the range of 1 battery and 2 panels on your roof to charge them. and change your lighting to led if you ve not already done that.
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I would estimate based on calculations I just did in my head (Can post exact workings out if you like) that a 100W panel should serve you fine for what you need on sunny days but if you get a 150w you would cover yourself for more overcast days. Also if possible upgrading your battery would help somewhat, maybe a 110ah or something similar.
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If it's a compressor fridge, it should last a lot more than 1 day - I've done 4 days with a 110A/h battery.
I assume the fridge is on whilst you're travelling, so that it is pre-cooled when you arrive. If not, the fridge will use a lot of power to initially get cold, but hardly any once it has reached the required level.
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Topic: solar panels
