Forum Discussion

Mar-d-mar's avatar
Mar-d-mar
Explorer
Jun 14, 2018

Will Solar save my frig temp?

Class B Pleasure Way. In hot weather, on propane or battery power, the frig won't keep up. It does fine plugged in at a campground but I'm usually in a parking lot during the day. I've been leaving it on propane, but 60 Degrees certainly won't keep food safe. Will Solar panels be enough to do it? Is there a thread anyone can suggest to recommend the best type and connection? Prefer to have panels be mounted permanently vs. temporary set up on the ground because of theft potential. Thanks all in advance.
  • Thanks all. The 'experts' have checked the frig and supposedly there is nothing wrong with it. It is original equipment on a 2000 model Pleasure Way. 2oldman, if the panels are connected to the batteries, wouldn't I have the identical issue? It seems like there isn't enough power coming from the batteries (which are pretty new) Please forgive my 'newness', but the frig has 3 settings. I use AC for when I am plugged in, DC for batteries and gas-gas. If I have solar panels, can I use the AC connection instead of DC, or is there a way to plug the AC into the inverter for panels and get more power?
  • Is the battery thats running the fridge going dead ? If not, fridge should work just as good on propane as electric. If so, then solar will help the battery
  • The answer is no.
    If you can't cool when running off 120V or when running on propane with a good 12V source, solar isn't going to do anything for the fridge.
    All solar does is keep the battery up.
  • On propane at Stovepipe Wells with temp at 105F in March my fridge did great on propane even during the one to two hours in the sun. Add fans inside and behind. Have your fridge serviced. Getting 25 amp hours from solar on a B will be a challenge...roof real estate...five 100 watt panels.
  • Mar-d-mar wrote:
    In hot weather, on propane or battery power, the frig won't keep up.Will Solar panels be enough to do it?.


    2oldman wrote:
    So, your fridge works ok on 120vac then. You'd need an inverter to supply that, plus about 25amps of solar feeding the batts.


    And how is solar going to help when the sun isn't shining full tilt? :@ The correct solution is to figure out why the fridge isn't operating on gas as it should. ;)
  • Mar-d-mar wrote:
    In hot weather, on propane or battery power, the frig won't keep up.Will Solar panels be enough to do it?.
    So, your fridge works ok on 120vac then. You'd need an inverter to supply that, plus about 25amps of solar feeding the batts.

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