UPG 250 amp hour agm batteries
I just finished up my residential refer install with inverter. I have two 75 amp hour batteries that will suffice for now. But this worked so great and I had so much fun with it, I started searching ...
Forum Discussion
crosscheck wrote:
In reality, yachts are just RV's on water
Yes. Didn't want to say it and hurt the feelings of either yachties or Rv-ers or both. This is why 12V fridges are popular on water. (120V compressor fridges, obviously, are not). RVs are catching up - slowly, because they are spoiled with proximity to of all kinds of fuel, and many won't even camp where there are no hookups.
The OP fridge is 120V compressor, not 12V - from what I could gather from his posts. A different creature, usually larger volume and needs an inverter (= more losses). With 120V compressor fridge of really "residential" size (10+ cu.ft) you have to have hookups or run a generator daily (and have enough batteries to last between those runs). Can it work with solar? It depends... This all boils down to size. What size of 120V fridge, what size of solar, what "size" of average full sun time.
Normally, 120V residential unit is not a good idea for long-term offgrid, unless it is small like an under-counter dorm fridge and you have plenty of sun (and yet not too hot), and keep your generator ready. And even then, 12V unit of the same volume is better than 120V compressor. In the example above, 1000 WH daily draw of modern and very efficient residential fridges is A LOT. This translates into 100 AH from the battery. It means at least 130 AH, possibly 150 AH, to cover all your needs including the fridge. Will you collect 150 AH from 200W solar panel? 300W? 500W maybe?
