Can I leave my 12volt dc fridge going in my RV while using this solar panel? If so what effect will it have on my 90 amp hour wet cell 12v battery?
447163
You would need to check the drain that the fridge has. This should keep your battery charging at 1-4 amps (in my area) so if it's less then that on average it will be fine. Also if you are charging the batteries every now and then this will help. So if your thinking of leaving the fridge on and never charging it depends greatly on the draw. If you are supplementing your charges this is perfect. Also check your solar index for your region mine is very low so you will most likely get a better charge than me.
447164
You can leave it hooked up and charging while runnning the 12v DC fridge.Depending on how many amps of draw your fridge uses it may or may not go over the amount you are producing with the panel.Do you know how much amps that the fridge draws?Thank you,AW
59844
I did buy this inverter..it did just what we wanted it to do... we use it for a small solar application on an off grid camp.. our biggest concern was running a small chest freezer converted to a run as fridge with a 5A start up needed. Have not had a problem.
700800
should be I run a 100w fridge with it but I use 3 solar batteries as they are only 35amp hrs each
1157682
If you plan to use this with an inverter attached to the solar charge controller, the amount of current being drawn from the battery is dependent on the solar charger and the inverter. the solar charge cotroller i use does not allow for more than 20 to 25 amps (300 ac watts). If you run the inverter directly off of the battery, you can use larger wattage inverters. The simplest way to use these panels is to hook them to the solar charge controller and hook the batteries up to the charge controller. Then hook the inverter of your choice up to the batteries. I use a 2000w samlex sine wave inverter. This covers refrigeration and recharging sensitive products. If you plan on running these to your electrical panel, you need an electrician to figure that out. I used these panels for my solar generator project. They worked great. The 2 panels combined give you about 10 DC amps of continuous power (about 120 watts of continous power). Without getting technical, It would take about 8-10 hours to charge a 100 amp hr deep cycle battery. How long that battery lasts depends on how much power you draw. Definitely can't run central Air conditioner with 120V. You can run a fan, lights, refrigeration. Your limitation will be the alternate current 120V inverter and the max continous wattage.
1509655
In using a couple of these panels I have found no need to use a regulator when charging ordinary lead-acid batteries. I have not tried them on gel cells or left them unattended on small motorcycle type batteries. The panels appear to be diode protected and they don't appear to create any load on the battery during the night or when the panels are shaded from the sun. These descriptions are based on actual experience using the panels, including maintaining an RV 12-volt system 24/7, and not from the tech manual. So from a practical end-user standpoint, they seem very functional and reliable. In using a couple of these panels I have found no need to use a regulator when charging ordinary lead-acid batteries. I have not tried them on gel cells or left them unattended on small motorcycle type batteries. The panels appear to be diode protected and they don't appear to create any load on the battery during the night or when the panels are shaded from the sun. These descriptions are based on actual experience using the panels, including maintaining an RV 12-volt system 24/7, and not from the tech manual. So from a practical end-user standpoint, they seem very functional and reliable.
2007705
Hello From Explore Electric Without knowing the precise specs of the refrigerator, we wouldn't want to give an overly specific answer, but the performance characteristics of the Go Power Solar Extreme system may be helpful in partially answering your question. The Solar Extreme will produce enough power to run up to 3000 watts of appliances or electronics at a time, and depending on your exposure to the sun, top up your battery bank at a rate of 27 amps per hour. I hope this provides some basic guidelines to help you. Regards, Steve
268946
The short answer is "no". (Maybe a fan.) If you did the calculations I think you would find that your roof is not big enough to hold the panels that you would need and the battery bank would be more weight than your RV could safely carry. :(Come to California where you do not need heat or AC. :)
2261353
Yes it can charge the camper battery, but I doubt if you are using a lot of watts over night that it will be enough... It is more of a strong trickle charger... You need the larger panels for dry camping. A 24 Series Battery has 85 AMP hours of power. In other words, a single bulb in the trailer draws 1.7 AMPS. Now take the number of bulbs in the unit, for example, a trailer with 15 bulbs = 27.20 AMPs. Add in a radio CD player = 5.0 AMPS. Now the furnace will draw 7.0 AMPS if it were to run for 1 hour depending on how cold at night and how the temperature is set. Even though the fridge is on gas, the board still draws power, 2.0 AMPS. Here are some examples of how much power certain items draw: 85 AMP hours 27.20 AMP bulbs 5.0 AMPS stereo 7.0 AMP furnace 2.0 fridge 41.20 total per hour ____________________________________________________________________________ 85 divided by 41.20 = 2.06 hours of battery power. Now we know that we do not have all of the lights on at the same time but you get the general idea. What can you do so you don't run out of power? First there are solar panels. We recommend a 130 watt panel with a 30 AMP regulator. This will give you 7.2 AMPS of charge per hour (with good weather conditions). Secondly, a new and upcoming idea is LED interior bulbs. They only draw 0.2 AMPS that's 3.20 AMPS verses 27.20 AMPS with the traditional bulbs. So you can see the 5 watt panel you are looking at will not even come close to helping you dry camp, but it will help maintain your charge if in storage.
366651
15 amps. NO! My 27 cubic ft home refrigerator doesn't use 15 amps. Double check your numbers. Also, you can't run any 115 volt device off a solar panel. The panel charges a battery. The battery runs into an inventor. The fridge runs off the invertor.
1508345
I use mine this past weekend. I had the panel charging a 12V marine battery through a solar controller and had a 12v fan running in my trailer at the same time. Seemed to work just fine.
1248021
This is a very nice solar panel that is mounted on a somewhat flexible metal sheet. I produces about 16v dc at the contacts in Florida sun (rated at 12v for a 12v battery), but I use a solar controller so it won't overcharge my battery. I have it hooked to a 12v trolling motor deep cycle battery on a small boat. I have not had to externally charge the battery since attaching the solar panel, and that gives me a few hours per week of power.
366652
If you had it hooked to a large capacity battery. With a inverter hooked to that battery large enough to handle 115vac @ 5amps. The amps for a small fridge is probaly closer to 1.5 than it is 15 amps. So with your panel in full sunlight producing 50W at 22vdc regulated to 12vdc. You could in theory run the fridge.
592385
I actually attached mine to my DC to AC inverter that is wired to my 12 volt battery. I soldered an "eye" type of connector on the end of the wires that come off the controller. I also attached the wires with the standard solar clips just like the ones provided in the kit that they provide. It was just for convenience to un-hook my system at the RV compartment for easy set-up and take down when traveling. One other item of note, put a 10 amp fuse both before and after the controller. This protects both the controller and the system.
1495405
I have one connected to the battery on a camp trailer the has a propane refrige/freezer. It keeps the battery charged when we are not using the trailer and also is charging while we are using the trailer. This has really helped to keep the fridge from faulting if the battery voltage dropped to much and the electronic ignitor wouldn't work properlly.
765122
Hi -- I am an electrical engineer and I use this panel to keep the three full size 12V deep cycle batteries wired in parallel on my camper charged. It does a really good job and I do not use a charge controller. I mount the solar panel vertically facing south so that in the summer when the sun is high in the sky and the temps are warm it receives less solar input, but in the winter the sun angle is low and I get relatively more charge and any excess battery heating will be less of a concern. The panel seems to be very good quality and has held up fine outside in Park City UT for over 9 months. The current from the panel in full sun should nominally be 5w/12v = .42 amps, which may be a little high for trickle charging a small motorcycle battery. Check for your battery specs on line. By mounting the solar panel vertically it will generate less current in the summer and avoid overheating. You can also probably mask the panel with tape to reduce output if needed. Also, I don't think charge controllers are too expensive for this size panel so that is an option. Hope this helps. ---Dan in Park City UT
280899
80-90 is not too bad, though the dashboard scenario is probably NOT a good idea, since dash temperatures probably move closer to 100+ degrees. It's an unfortunate fact, leading to a sub-optimal partnership, that batteries don't do well with too much heat, and solar panels need the sun. Even Li-ion and li-po batteries (which utilize less electrolyte than, say, a lead-acid battery) are affected by heat. Heat will SHORTEN the life of a battery while temporarily boosting efficiency by reducing the internal resistance (less resistance = more current). If you charge in 80-90 degree heat, try to keep your Opteka OFF the ground, if possible, maximizing air flow around it. If you continue to expose your battery to high temperatures, you are guaranteed to reduce its life. Nitty Gritty details : http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/discharging_at_high_and_low_temperatures P.S. I charge mine on the window sill of my office, where it gets only afternoon sun (about 3 hours). It stays cool, but won't charge to over 3 bars.
1069077
Yes. If you read the comment below, you will see that I was/am correct.The panel MAY have a diode, which would prevent it from actively discharging your battery when the sun goes down, but the comment below seems to refute that. The other problem is that this panel will cook your battery, because it will apply voltage and current anytime that light shines on the panel. It will do this regardless of the state of charge of your battery... This will boil the electrolyte, and you'll be left with a 12V paper weight.