can I run an engel off a solar panel?

Emmmm.... This is an area we don't cover very often on this forum.

husky,

You would still need a battery in the equasion mate, otherwise when the sunlight disappears, so would the power to the fridge.

A 40 watt panel will put back approximately 2.5 amps in reasonable sunlight.
This is more than my 40 litre engel _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx, which is a maximum of 2.7 amps if running all the time.

Your older model fridge may require something bigger, say 60-80 watt panel which should maintain the battery OK.

It depends if you intend running the fridge as a fridge, or a freezer.

Not as a stand alone power supply ,The fridge still needs a battery between the panel and the fridge,
This is what a 1.5kw system looks like

We used a 80w panel; put out when we stopped to camp, and this kept the deep cycle battery powering a 130 litre upright Engel caravan fridge and 2 lights (in fine weather).

Yeah, sorry I was fully intending to keep the battery in the equation. didn't explain myself adequately.

I figure if i can dribble 40-60W back into the system, the fridge would last a lot longer than 3 days??

Husky01,
I admire you for coming back having been so severly savaged by the sage amongst us.
Mate, I'm anything but sage, (In fact I'm a bit of a drip: didn't even know how to preserve olives - Sheesh!!) but 60w in good weather should see both your fridge and battery in good shape up to 5 days.
We run a 123w panel through Sunsaver regulator to a cranking battery, to run a Waeco CF50 and 3w LED light.
Not saying it's either the ultimate, OR the most economical set up. (Certainly not game to ask on this site). But it works for us.

btw.There is a fair difference between amorphous and polycrystalline, with no simple answer. Gopher, eh. Jeff.H.

G'day Husky,

I have a 39 Engel which is hooked up to an auxilliary 100 amp deep cycle battery. I connect a folding twin 40 watt system ( total 80 watts ) that has a built in regulator direct to the battery while I'm stopped. In summer it keeps the battery topped up adequately. The unit folds up to approx. 600x800x 80mm and comes in a heavy duty vinyl bag. The panels are by suntech.

Cheers

Pat

OK, as suggested I will add my 2 bob's worth.

I run an 80L fridge and run it very cold, hence it uses a lot of power.

I have a Uni Sloar (amorphous type) 64 watt panel which in ideal conditions will run the fridge. When I say ideal, I mean very long sunny days in the low 20's. When it gets too hot, I have to supplement it with charge from the car.

It is hooked up to a 100 amp AGM battery. The AGM is ideal for this application as it accepts huge charge, so running the car for as little as 15 minutes whacks a big boost into the battery.

As for your 29L fridge, I would recommend start small, possibly a 40 watt panel would do it most of the time. You can always add another panel later. Just make sure you get a good quality regulator rated at 10 amps, so that it will handle another panel if you choose to add one.

ATB,

Jim.

G'day husky01, i run a 110L waeco and 3 one amp lights to a 115 deep cycle battery. I use 2 x 80w panels connected together, i know it is an overkill but i will never run out of power. If the experts (jaycar for example )say u need only a 40w panel , i will update to 80w panel to be on the safe side, but thats just me. I would rather have a cold beer then a hot one, or fresh meat then off meat.
cheers, Lance

Hi Husky

Quite right as suggested by others.

100 a/h of battery capacity (AGM if possible)

Min of a 50W panel and a 10 to 12 amp regulator so you can convert it into a bifold later. I use BP50W units and the SK-12 regulators in my kits.

A 100W Bi-fold will power a 80L fridge and leave a bit of power for a light in good weather.

Regards

Derek.

Husky,

Good to see stick with us.

I run an older (20 year+) engel too.

I got it off my father who used it on his sail boat.

He had a 55w panel and N70ZZ batterry. 70 amp hour?

He used to go out on the bay in SE Qld for 2 weeks at a time.

If it was good sun, would just work, with the panel up all the time, and he used to turn it towards the sun when he could.

If it was overcast, he used to run the motor for 2 to 3 hours a day (10 amp output), leaving and entering anchorages, and it just worked.

We use to run it on freezer until we discovered cryovac meat. Now only run it as fridge. Reduces power consumption by 1/3 to a 1/2.

Cooler weather it runs 3 days off an N70zz, warm weather 2 days.

Hope that helps.

husky01
I have a 39lt engel and I have a 2x32 watt panel hinged and if you hook the solar panel to the battery and run the fridge off the battery ,mine will put out 3amps most of the time and have not had a battery problem .
cheers mechpete.

Husky,
if new guy's like you did not ask simple relevant questions the 'ex-perts' *******deleted*******

I don't have specific experience running a solar system with an “Engel”, but I’ve been using Solar systems with various Deep Cycle & AGM batteries and 12v fridge’s etc since 1997 on a 24/7 basis, I know and fully understand the performance characteristics of my own solar system absolutely.

I don't profess to know everything – yet
but I was told if I read the information on the internet I know it's true (not) :-))

What you can be assured of if your fridge _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx 3.7a and has a runtime of about 40% then you have to replace that ‘lost’ power, 3.7Amps x 9.6hours = 35.5Amps per 24hour day.

Mathematically stated, you need a solar panel rated to deliver at or just above 36amps per (sun) day to maintain the battery at full charge (assuming local sunshine hours = 6, can be 5 or even 8) you will need a 6ah solar panel, or close to 100Watts.

You need a solar panel that will operate in very low light, therefore increasing the number of effective ‘sunhours’ per day to closer to 10 Hours, yes these are more technically effective and yes cost more money, but are far cheaper than 2 x ‘cheap’ solar panels with far lesser performance.

Most cheap 80 Watt solar panels will give you a MAXIMUM of only 4.8Amps x 6hours = 28.8amps, on a good day, however you can get more expensive 80 Watt solar panels that will give you closer to the solar numbers you will require and top up the {AGM} battery via the alternator.

If the fridge runtime increases, and yes it surely will, so will the size of the Solar panel have to increase, just to maintain the battery at fully charged.

You can not run any fridge from a solar panel without a battery, main reasons are that the voltage from the panel will trifft all over the place (from 22 volts to zero) and some need strart up currents of 5.5 - 6 amps.
I run my Engel MRFD015 with a small 10Ah battery in a carrying bag which by itself runs the fridge for over 3 hours. With my 40 Watt foldable Suntech solar panel, the fridge runs basically all day but the battery then needs charging overnight on the car battery.
A 60 Watt panel would do the job well, a 80 Watt panel would also charge the battery and run in subdued sunlight.
I am told that all Engel fridges use the same compressor, so my statement should be valid.

I read with interest the entry from Mainey und would like to know more. I am aware that the amorphpanels give out more power in "subdued sunlight", but their lifetime is specified as very short and they are very large and heavy. However, should there be something available which is not too large, heavy and expensive, then I would appreciate any link to get to know more about it!