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What Size Solar Panels Need?
Considering adding solar panels to your RV, Van, or trailer? And getting the highest efficiency rating for solar power. That means you get more power from each solar panel, and can use more of the power you collect. A deep dive on solar power efficiency is here. Here’s a BASIC size chart for what solar panels you need by size of RV & how many Lithium batteries you have or will need. 10′-14′ needs 100Ah x 1 or 135Ah x 1 battery. 100 watts of solar (100 watts x 1) will give you a 12V 100Ah Off Grid Solar Power System. 15′-20′ needs 100Ah x 1 or 135Ah x 1 battery. 100 – 200 watts of solar (100 watts x 1 or 2) will give you a 12V 200Ah Off Grid Solar Power System. 21′-30′ needs 2x 135Ah or 1x 320Ah battery. 200 watts of solar (100 watts x 2) will give you a 12V 200Ah Off Grid Solar Power System 31′-40′ needs 2x 135Ah or 1x 320Ah battery. 400 watts of solar (100 watts x 4) will give you a 12V 400Ah Off Grid Power System 40’+ needs 2x 280Ah, or 1x 640Ah battery. 600 watts of solar (100 watts X 6) will give you a 12V 400Ah Off Grid Power System One thing to note, rooftop solar on RVs and vans tends to have multiple solar panels instead of a single big solar panel. This is because the roof top of a van or RV tend to have vents, like a kitchen vent, or an air conditioner, or a fan or roof vent that make it hard to install a single large panel. To better use the rooftop space consider connecting a number of smaller, 100 watt panels together. This will achieve a higher solar panel capacity. Multiple solar panels also offer redundancy. When there is one glass panel if it shatters you are out of power. Whereas with with multiple panels if one fails you still have solar capacity left. Electrical System Upgrades Recommended. Living the dream unshackled from shore power is magical: you have the freedom to go anywhere, and live life on your own terms. Here’s a few upgrades we recommend in building your dream off-the-grid home on wheels. Anyone looking to make the lithium upgrade is to make sure that you will be charging your batteries with a lithium compatible charger – it increases performance and saves you time. Lithium batteries like to be charged at 14.4 volts, which is higher than lead acid. This means that traditional chargers, for shore power, or from solar panels, will work but they will not full charge lithium batteries. For charging off shore power while at home or at RV parks each Lithium battery will need charger compatable. For charging via solar panels your solar charge controller has a lithium setting (many new ones do) or use a solar charge controller like the Victron Smart Solar MPPT charge controller. Or charge your batteries using the electricity produced by your engine’s alternator using a Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC charger (more on this in a moment). If building a new van, truck, trailer, or RV you will need a way to plug in your household electronics. For that you will need an inverter, like the Victron Phoenix 1200 watt inverter (for small & mid sized RVs) or the Victron Multiplus (for large RVs and Skoolie’s). An inverter allows you to use 12V Lithium batteries to power household electronics that require 120V AC (the wall plug in your home). Rated at 1200 watts this professional grade Victron inverter takes DC power (the power that comes from batteries or solar panels) and transforms it into AC power. 1200 watts is the perfect size for small to mid sized Sprinter or camper vans, RVs, or other off grid applications where you need plug and play power. 1200 watts is a good size to run a medium sized TV, stereo, small kitchen appliances, computers, or other home electronics. If your RV or trailer came with wall plugs then an inverter is already built into your system, and that may not be compatible with Lithium batteries. If you are looking to spend a lot of time on the road then we recommendation the Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC charger which allows you to charge your deep cycle Lithium batteries using the alternator in your van, truck, or RV’s engine. The Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC charger is a professional DC to DC adaptive 3-stage charger with built-in Bluetooth. For use in dual battery systems in vehicles or on RVs, trucks, boats where the alternator and the starter battery are used to charge the service battery (aka house or deep cycle battery). The unit can be monitored and programmed via Bluetooth and can be remotely controlled via a remote on/off switch. The Orion Tr-Smart charger can be used in 12V systems and is suitable for both lead acid and lithium batteries. For battery monitoring our favorite solution is the Victron Smart Shunt 500A/50MV Bluetooth Battery Monitor. It allows you to monitor the performance of your system using the Victron app on your phone. Provides real time data on the performance of your system, including how much energy has gone into your batteries from your solar panels and/or from your engine’s alternator, how much energy you are currently using, and how much power you have left in your batteries. Using a battery monitor provides piece of mind, helping you make decisions on when to camp and for how long. It also provides a overview of the performance of your electrical system, which can be helpful if you or a friend need to troubleshoot problems on the road. For Van builds, small campers, and tucks we recommend the 100Ah setup. It's a friendly off grid system including a lithium specific charge controller so you can add solar panels of your choice in the future. For mid-sized RVs, 3rd wheels, camper trailers, and folks living full time in their Van, Truck or Tiny Home we recommend the 200Ah Solar setup. It includes all the electrical components a solar powered off grid system needs with lithium specific charge controller and easy to operational 170 watts of Solar panels. This is our #1 best selling RV & Vanlife power system. Live the dream! Live life on your own terms! Call Glenn's Camper & RV Service for your new Solar Panel Install... |
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