SOLAR PANELS FOR RV BATTERIES INSTALL
SOLAR PANELS FOR RV BATTERIES GENERATOR
SOLAR PANELS FOR RV BATTERIES PORTABLE
SOLAR PANELS FOR RV BATTERIES TV

Try them flat on the ground, in the same orientation as your RV. Power hungry boondockers will have north of 800 watts of solar panels! When starting to boondock, before you know your solar needs, it is easy to start with solar panels on the ground. The average that I see out here is 400-700 watts. The most conservative boondockers will want at least 200 watts of solar panels. If you are going to start the Onan it would make sense to run the water heater on electric and any other appliance you can think of while the Converter is charging the bulk of the battery.

SOLAR PANELS FOR RV BATTERIES GENERATOR

I have been told the Onan 5500 generator will use 1/2 gallon an hour under moderate load. Some boondockers will run the generator in the morning to bulk charge and then let their solar panels finish the charge process. A 220AH battery may only accept 150 watts during the majority of the Absorption stage. When it comes to the 4-6 hour absorption stage the generator is very inefficient. Efficient Generator ChargingĪ generator is a good way to bulk charge batteries, most converter chargers can use up to 1000 watts for part of this 1-3 hour stage. This validated my decision to carry a ground panel and sell my Honda generator last year. Tilting and tracking this time of year will almost double the output of a flat solar panel! I would attribute this to short days and not much direct sun reaching the flat panel.

The results still speak well for themselves. On the 1.38kw day, I altered the results, at 2pm I tilted it to have more battery that night. Both 360 watt panels were connected to different Victron solar charge controllers and the same lithium battery with plenty of room for charging. The tracking was sporadic, I would turn the panel when I remembered, 3-4 times a day. The first two days of the test it was cloudy and the last day was sunny and perfect day for solar. This data should be accurate for 30 days either side of Winter Solstice (shortest Sun day of the year). This test was performed mid January 60 miles east of Yuma AZ. I spent 3 days testing the two different methods of using solar panels.

SOLAR PANELS FOR RV BATTERIES PORTABLE

Portable Panels Roof Panels vs Portable Panels On days with extra solar there are many ways to use it. The panels on the roof will help shade your RV and can be stronger than your existing roof. The amount of solar panels on your roof will depend on open real estate you have on the roof. AM Solar sells ’tilt bars’ and do they make a measurable difference. You can still tilt the panels on the roof if you choose to.

SOLAR PANELS FOR RV BATTERIES INSTALL

How I mount Solar panels. Once you install them you only need to look at them for inspection and to wash them. Believe it or not, some solar installers just use VHB tape and do not drill holes to attach the solar panels. Roof Panels are awesome because they are always charging your batteries when the sun is up. ATC trailers with the new style light switches will use 48AH or 576Wh to keep the lights off every day! Roof Panels This needs to be calculated in to the equations. If you leave an inverter on all day there will be a no load draw, ~25 watts per hour or 600Wh a day. If you run plug in appliances you will need an inverter, they are typically 80-90% efficient. With solar days ranging from 5 hrs and upwards of 9 hrs depending on the time of year and location.

DisclaimersĮverything above is “simple math” with no talk of inefficiencies and losses. If it runs for 1/4 of the day it will consume 4,320Wh or 360AH requiring 1000 watts of solar panels. If your residential fridge uses 6A at 120v it will consume 720 watts when running.

SOLAR PANELS FOR RV BATTERIES TV

If you look at the back of your TV and it uses 36watts, you can run this for 10 hours with a 100 watt solar panel. This seems to be the sweet spot for many RVers with small inverter use.Ī 100 watt solar panel sitting flat on the roof will yield about 30AH of 12v battery charging, (See Disclaimers below) this equates to 360Wh. I install a 700 watt solar package for toy haulers with great results. But if you’re using your RV, you will need more. How do I charge my RV batteries? How much Solar do I need for my RV?Ģ00 watts of solar is the bare minimum to keep a battery bank topped off, and that’s while your RV is not in use. A good Solar Charge Controller has the ability to fully charge your battery with the correct voltage for the current temperature, your RV converter can not do this. This will equate to 12-48AH of battery consumption each day just to keep the lights off! When you have Lead Acid batteries this is compounded by sulfating and reduced capacity. We all know it is a ongoing battle to keep our RV batteries charged with the constant drain of.

Solar panels for rv batteries