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Solar panels

tbax46
Explorer
Explorer
What size of solar panels are needed to keep battery charged for a few days of boondocking.
Reflection 337
Silverado 3509HD
USN & 'Nam Vet
17 REPLIES 17

Boon_Docker
Explorer III
Explorer III
I have 200 watts of solar with an MPPT controller feeding a 225 AH battery bank (two GC-2 6v batteries).
I boondock for weeks at a time and the batteries are fully charged by early afternoon as long as it is not cloudy.

naturist
Nomad
Nomad
Solar wattage needed depends on how many watt hours you burn and is a function of how many amp hours of battery you have. So it’s inappropriate to give a simple number. But I can give you some guidance based upon some assumptions, which you will have to fine tune yourself.

If you just have a single 80 amp hour battery as most TTs come off the lot with, AND that serves you well for a day, AND You use no more than the 40 amp hours recommended overnight, then a single 100 watt solar panel will suffice, PROVIDED You get a full day of bright sunshine, and use an MPPT charge controller.

To keep that battery fully charged on a cloudy day, you might want two 100 watt panels. If you have a pair of those same batteries, you will probably want 3 - 100 watt panels. If you have a Class A motorhome with a battery bank that runs to 600 amp hours, and you use them to capacity, think something like 600 to 800 watts of solar.

I would suggest that such estimates are very much dependent on how much power you use. So my suggestions above are highly dependent on your usage as well as my assumptions.

Yosemite_Sam1
Explorer
Explorer
Rule of thumb, 100w with the caveat you are not overdrawing more than your solar panel is charging.