solar power questions cause i just dont know.
hey i am new to the rv world. i just got a 97 e350 tioga.it has one hooked up already, small single panel on top of ac unit. no clue what kind havent been on roof yet, in no hurry to break my neck. i ...
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500 watts is about 50 amps per hour if run from a 12 volt battery through a inverter to a 500 watt appliance.
However if you are using a 500 watt inverter, it is the maximum output, not what the actual load is. Much like your car is not going 85 just because the speedometer says that. If you are watching a 75 watt TV set, then the load is about 75 watts, expect the inverter to take in 7.5 amps at 12 volts and put out 75 watts.
Your 80 amp hour group 24 battery will not last very long. The factory installed a pair of golf cart batteries in my 1997 Fleetwood, and I wonder why you have such small batteries now. The golf cart battery set-up will provide 220 amp hours between them. The pair of 24 AH will only store about 160 AH under the best of conditions, but let the battery age a year, it will only be about 120 AH total between them.
THe solar panel is about 15 watts, might be 10 watts, anyway it is about useless. Less than 7 amp hours collected in a day in the full sun.
The propane and CO leak detectors will use about 10 amp hours daily, with the refrigerator about 35 AH. To make 35 AH daily, then a 120 watt solar panel needs to be installed, along with a controller. To make up for furnace usage, TV, and lights, another 100 - 120 watt panel will refill the batteries in one day.
There is another solar post tonight that I put in how I made solar panel mounts, and gave a link to a solar website with panels in the $1.20 per rated watt price range.
Good luck!
Fred.
However if you are using a 500 watt inverter, it is the maximum output, not what the actual load is. Much like your car is not going 85 just because the speedometer says that. If you are watching a 75 watt TV set, then the load is about 75 watts, expect the inverter to take in 7.5 amps at 12 volts and put out 75 watts.
Your 80 amp hour group 24 battery will not last very long. The factory installed a pair of golf cart batteries in my 1997 Fleetwood, and I wonder why you have such small batteries now. The golf cart battery set-up will provide 220 amp hours between them. The pair of 24 AH will only store about 160 AH under the best of conditions, but let the battery age a year, it will only be about 120 AH total between them.
THe solar panel is about 15 watts, might be 10 watts, anyway it is about useless. Less than 7 amp hours collected in a day in the full sun.
The propane and CO leak detectors will use about 10 amp hours daily, with the refrigerator about 35 AH. To make 35 AH daily, then a 120 watt solar panel needs to be installed, along with a controller. To make up for furnace usage, TV, and lights, another 100 - 120 watt panel will refill the batteries in one day.
There is another solar post tonight that I put in how I made solar panel mounts, and gave a link to a solar website with panels in the $1.20 per rated watt price range.
Good luck!
Fred.
