Running A Full Sized Solar Panel On An Rv

For example to charge a 12v rv house battery you should pair it with a single 12v solar panel or multiple 12v panels wired in parallel.

Running a full sized solar panel on an rv.

Renogy 100 watt solar kit 30 amp charge controller cables. Currently as we speak our self installed rv solar panels are completely running our new refrigerator. Remember back when we decided to rip out our rv refrigerator because it kicked the bucket and lived out of a cooler for a year. How do rv solar panels work.

Well folks those days are long behind us. Basically the rv solar panels route to a solar charge controller which sends the energy your panels have created to the on board battery system. That panel is rated at 100 watts at peak efficiency meaning on a 78 degree cloudless day at solar noon on the equator during the equinox. Besides the 8 batteries and 10 panels a couple adequate sized charge controllers and a smart battery charger would also be required for this example.

If you pair a pwm controller with solar panels that have a higher voltage than your battery the controller won t be able to use all of the current and will waste some of the generated electricity. 24 hours a day we have refrigerated food and it is damn glorious. The renogy solar panels came with short wires with mc4 connectors attached from the factory. Lastly i connected my four renogy 100 watt panels in parallel running 10 awg wires from the panels to a rooftop mounted combiner box.

It s called a controller because it modifies how much energy reaches the battery so as not to overcharge them. 7824 watt hrs day 160watts panel x 5 hours sunlight per day 9 78 10 panels. This is the one that will control the amount of current that gets into the battery. Since the panels in our systems are always connected in parallel you can assume about 6 amps per 100 watts of solar panels.

The produced electric current is then fed into a charge controller. The panels create an electric current each time the sun hits them. If running a solar system to power electrical items in your rv is new to you and you want to try it on a small scale this 12 volt kit is ideal. For cable run lengths typical in rv applications we recommend 8 gauge for 10 amp systems 6 gauge wire for 30 amp systems 4 gauge wire for 40 amps systems and 2 gauge for 100a systems.

Solar panel mc4 connectors connecting panels to combiner box. Rv solar panels work by converting sunlight into electricity or power. As you can see operating a large refrigerator on just solar can become very expensive. Solar panels are sold in varying sizes but a 100 watt panel is a commonly found size particularly for rvs.