How Many Watt Solar Panel Do I Need Camping

For any given energy production target you need fewer panels if their individual wattage is higher.

How many watt solar panel do i need camping.

The spreadsheet looks complicated but in reality it is very simple to use. Calculate your solar panel needs solar panels are usually rated to put out 150 to 370 watts. First enter the capacity of the solar panels you think you will need. 100 watt portable solar panel.

The renogy 50 watt flexiblemonocrystalline solar panel is an excellent choice for boats rv or camping purposes. Systems bigger than 600ah 1200 watts are still completely doable but are uncommon. A popular solar panel size to charge your batteries to run camping fridges is around 120 160 watts. Now that you know how many and what kind of solar panelsyou need for your diy camper van electrical system it s time to learn if you should wire your solar panelsin series or parallel and why we recommend series in 90 of scenarios.

This is also assuming of course you have a lot of battery power too. Also keep in mind that solar panels experience a 75 90 drop in efficiency on cloudy days so it s good to have slightly more than you need when it comes to solar power about a 20 cushion if possible to account for less than ideal conditions. But i have seen plenty of 160 watt panels. This is assuming you are considering using 12 volt rv grade panels.

So from our camping experiment we ve determined that a 160 watt panel will keep our batteries topped off most days and that kit fits the bill. When roof size is limited efficient panels with a high wattage can make the system more compact. Divide both sides by 30 and you need 1 33 100 watt solar panels. And that output can vary a lot by size and type of panel.

Start off with 100 watts. I ve attached the solar calculator mk ii here that you can use to determine how much battery and solar capacity you will need to meet your free camping needs. Now i ve not seen a 133 watt solar panel for sale. Flexible solar panels have an amazing advantage on curved surfaces where traditional modules would represent problems due to the fixed mounting structure.

Choose a solar panel large enough to provide enough daily power to run your fridge plus battery storage of an extra two thirds on hand. You will need at least 1 800 watts of solar panels to run your rv air conditioner. 5 hours of direct sunlight x 6 amps generated hour 30 amp hours day. Panel specifications the power rating of panels varies depending on the model and manufacturer but most range from 250 watts to 330 watts.

There are a lot of starter kits that include them like this one i m not affiliated just found you an example. A 300 amp hour camper battery for instance would need around 300 watts of solar power.