I ve attached the solar calculator mk ii here that you can use to determine how much battery and solar capacity you will need to meet your free camping needs.
How many watt solar panel do i need camping.
The renogy 50 watt flexiblemonocrystalline solar panel is an excellent choice for boats rv or camping purposes.
Now i ve not seen a 133 watt solar panel for sale.
100 watt portable solar panel.
So from our camping experiment we ve determined that a 160 watt panel will keep our batteries topped off most days and that kit fits the bill.
Now as i said before this is a high power example more typical of a large offgrid caravan or motorhome but the approach is the same.
To build a system that size using 100 watt solar panels would require networking 50 to 100 of them together.
How to choose a panel.
For any given energy production target you need fewer panels if their individual wattage is higher.
This is assuming you are considering using 12 volt rv grade panels.
5 hours of direct sunlight x 6 amps generated hour 30 amp hours day.
Start off with 100 watts.
A 300 amp hour camper battery for instance would need around 300 watts of solar power.
We suggest a battery bank of 800 amp hours.
Plus that s the output you can expect with direct sunlight.
When roof size is limited efficient panels with a high wattage can make the system more compact.
First enter the capacity of the solar panels you think you will need.
And that output can vary a lot by size and type of panel.
100 watt solar panel approximately 6 amps hour in direct summer sun no clouds here s an example of our calculation of how much the solar panels are generating to recharge our rv batteries.
But i have seen plenty of 160 watt panels.
Also keep in mind that solar panels experience a 75 90 drop in efficiency on cloudy days so it s good to have slightly more than you need when it comes to solar power about a 20 cushion if possible to account for less than ideal conditions.
You will need at least 1 800 watts of solar panels to run your rv air conditioner.
To work out the size of the panel we need we simply take the 28 45 x 18v average voltage of a solar panel 512w.
Calculate your solar panel needs solar panels are usually rated to put out 150 to 370 watts.
Divide both sides by 30 and you need 1 33 100 watt solar panels.
Homes use a lot of energy and they generally require a solar system sized between 5 kw and 10 kw that s 5 000 10 000 watts.
Panel specifications the power rating of panels varies depending on the model and manufacturer but most range from 250 watts to 330 watts.
But there are many reasons why you wouldn t want to do this.
This is also assuming of course you have a lot of battery power too.
Just substitute your loads and perform the same calculation.