12v fridge/freezer>Battery>Solar Panel Setup
Submitted: Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at 20:17
ThreadID:
107975
Views:
3609
Replies:
4
FollowUps:
6
This Thread has been Archived
David W28
I'm wanting to eg. purchase a 60lt>100lt fridge/freezer running @ 2.5>6ah (averaging 2.5>3ah's) connecting to say a 125>150ah agm battery via a 195>240watt solar panel + fuse. So my ? is can any1 tell what size battery and solar panel I would need to run a fridge freezer? (This may draw between 50 and up to 80ah's in 24hrs)I have ideas but wanting experienced people on this to comment to get a better understanding, hope somebody can help,
Regards David.
Reply By: Ross M - Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at 21:40
Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at 21:40
David W28
Apart from the expected ah usage and the days when you get less from any solar, with that factored in, you can also do the following.
Make sure your fridge, whatever size, has more insulation that just the proprietary BAG they supply in fridge deals. The more you can keep ambient heat away from the fridge the better. Ie less AH used each day. A sleeping bag or additional blanket over the fridge compartment will keep the cool in and the heat way.
Make sure it always has a supply of cooler changed air, which is changed by a small fan and if possible some ducting to get the new air to the fridge condensor so it expells any stagnant hotter air which would reduce the efficiency and add to the run time.
I have found having the additional insulation and a computer fan which, may run all the time if needed = 3.6ah of fan run time in 24hrs and will save more than the 3.6ah it uses by making the fridge run less. You may only need it in the heat of the daytime.= less than 3.6ah used.
AnswerID:
533277
Reply By: mack c - Tuesday, Jun 03, 2014 at 19:14
Tuesday, Jun 03, 2014 at 19:14
Hi.
Regardles of your solar and battery capacity Also take a 20a AC charger combined with a small 1\2 tp 1 kw Genny.
100kw of solar no good in 1 week of rain or heavy cloud cover. Believe me. I've bin there.
cover your arse.
With the fridge. I have an 80ltr Waeco. Magic as a freezer, which is what I basically use it for on my three\4 monthly trips.
Find a Ducting insulation supplier.
1 1\2 mtrs of 17mm Solid lagging (silver backed) gives you the BEST insulation avail for these things in back of your car\tray.
My 80ltr in rear of Patrol in summer as a freezer. Uses very little juice. and lifting the cover from the lid there's a full layer of condensation over lid of fridge.
VERY efficient. Cost me around $72 but that's 5 or 6 ish yrs ago.
BETTER than any bags\covers you pay a zillion $$$'s for.
Don't overload with battery's, it's no good if you don't have the solar charging power to keep them up. You'll just find yourself digging in pocket regularly for new battery's.
and Dc to DC charging is just a big con financially.Ac\Dc is much better.
AnswerID:
533679