I agree with you completely. More solar and battery capacity means less generator run time. And reducing electrical loads (LEDs, efficient appliances, etc) and enough solar/batteries you can eliminate generators. But only to a point.
I guess put simply, the point I was trying make was to rely 100% on solar a few things need to happen, and most RV’s are not setup well to make this work (lack of roof real estate for enough panels, storage space for batteries, etc) under anything but very good circumstances.
1. You need sunny weather with minimal disruptions
2. You need enough battery capacity to carry you through the longest expected periods without sun
3. You need enough panels to recharge quickly while still running normal loads
If you boondock in moderate climates with abundant sunshine it all works really well.
But if one boondocks in the Pacific Northwest where one, two, or sometimes three weeks of cloudy skies and rain are common, the battery capacity needed to carry them through that weather is substantial. To recharge quickly (say a couple days), while also running the normal loads, would take a substantial amount of panes on the roof or ground. It would be a very large system that wouldn’t fit on most class B, B+, or C’s, and perhaps many of the smaller A’s or Fifth Wheels.
Someone boondocking in Florida in the summer months has abundant sunshine but has increased their energy needs significantly due to the need to run an AC. Parking in the sun isn’t desired due to heat build up, so they may need ground panels. And a large array of panels on the ground may not be possible where they are staying. AC could be needed day and night during the hottest summer months. Large energy demands that are expensive and require much more space to mitigate the higher demands.
Throw in the northern US states in the fall, winter, and spring, with cold nights, cloudy skies, the demand for heat, and again you end up with demands that exceed even a decent solar and battery system. The propane can supply the heat, but the fans are power hungry and have high duty cycles, and there is a significant lack of decent sunshine.
When one can chase moderate/mild climates, follow the sun and 70F weather, such as out west using elevation to control ambient temperature and the abundance of sunshine, it’s pretty easy to rely 100% on solar. But thats an ideal situation the majority of the country doesn’t share.
?I live in the Northeast, travel south, and routinely boondock all up and down the eastern seaboard. Northeast we have challenges with enough sunlight during parts of the year, southeast with excessive heat and humidity, and further north with cold temps and heating demands. The needs in these climates tend to stress even decent solar systems once you hit several days with no sun and high demands.
When temps are reasonable and the sun is shinning, my meager 100w panel and 100AH battery on my small class B does wonderful, even with both refrigerators. But when the sun disappears for more than a few days the quick press of the generator button brings them back up to charge in a couple hours and I’m good for another 3 or 4 days. When in Florida, boondocking in the hot sun and high humidity, the generator gets its exercise, as does the AC :)
My last Class A had 400w and 4 6v batts. It was fine in moderate temps and sunny climates, but not so much in the hot humid south or colder northern climates.
crosscheck wrote:
The OP question was How much solar do I need to run this fridge? Answers were everything from 200W-600W, 2 batteries to 6 batteries. The OP will decide on what will work for them and go from there.
Reflex 439, you have stated that solar does not do a very good job as a stand alone for taking care of the electrical wants of the modern RVer. I understand that everyones electrical needs are different but your own solar wattage of 100W and battery storage of 100AH is very different than many on this forum who have replaced generators completely or at least cut down operating times due to their descent sized solar/battery upgrades. And with portable solar, you can be in the trees and still harvest solar with a long enough cord and a portable unit.
Since 2011, our camping style is 98% dry/boondocking and we have almost 100% eliminated generator times with solar and battery storage. Never need A/C as we avoid very hot places and use high efficient 12V fans at night when it is hot. On our previous RV, had 330W solar and 4 AGM 6V batteries and ran a 12V, 7.5cuft compressor fridge freezer. Almost never ran the genny. Now we have 490W and 4 6V GC2,s and a 2000W inverter and Micro and we have power to spare.
2 simple ways of lower running times or eliminating genny run times are using less power(LED's, more efficient TV's etc,) or increasing solar and battery storage.
If we had to dry/boondock on your modest solar/battery set up, the genny would come out of retirement real quick.
Dave
