# solar panel



## vanessa600 (Oct 13, 2014)

solar panel, mine with nothing running with a sunny day over 24hrs loses battery power so what chance with all electric fridge :


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Very little chance of running a 12 volt Fridge on a battery.
However a bit more info such as size of solar panel and battery etc would help.

cabby


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

sorry, but what fridges work on 12v power, apart from when driving? 

you'll always struggle at this time of year because the sun is lower in the sky. Having said that, if you're parked up on a site the only things needed are lights, water pump and heating pump. If it's discharging when nothing is running, you have a problem!


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## VanFlair (Nov 21, 2009)

If you want to run a fridge it needs to be a compressor fridge, but more information required if you want sensible answers.

Martin


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## VanFlair (Nov 21, 2009)

bognormike said:


> sorry, but what fridges work on 12v power, apart from when driving?
> 
> you'll always struggle at this time of year because the sun is lower in the sky. Having said that, if you're parked up on a site the only things needed are lights, water pump and heating pump. If it's discharging when nothing is running, you have a problem!


AES absorbtion fridges with S+ terminal will run on spare 12volts from solar BUT you need a lot of solar (ideally around 400w) in the summer and plenty of battery bank.

Martin


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## vanessa600 (Oct 13, 2014)

sorry for lack of info 100 w solar panel 100 amp battery with compresssor fridge


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Now we are cooking, I would suggest that you increase if possible both battery and solar panel, or at least an extra battery. I assume you do switch over to engine supply when moving.Then it is entirely possible.
Do use 230v hook up first if possible.

cabby


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

run the fridge on gas when not on hook-up. Problem solved. :wink:


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## Landyman (Apr 3, 2010)

bognormike said:


> run the fridge on gas when not on hook-up. Problem solved. :wink:


But it is a compressor fridge......don't think that will run very well on gas. :roll:

Richard.


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

forgive my ignorance, but with that fridge in one of those vans you can't go off hook-up? who thought that one up? :roll:


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## vanessa600 (Oct 13, 2014)

brilliant small van apart from the fridge fully charged on a sunny day 36 hrs & nearly flat battery i think the idea is no holes in van to get grade 3 insulation


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## Landyman (Apr 3, 2010)

Compressor fridges are much more efficient than absorbtion units and can be run off a decent size solar panel *but* I doubt they would work well in cloudy, murky Britain during the winter.

Richard.


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## VanFlair (Nov 21, 2009)

A compressor fridge will use between 1 and 2.5 amps per hour so yes it could seriously deplete a single 100ah battery if the sun was not shining, two batteries would be better.

Martin


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## vanessa600 (Oct 13, 2014)

thanks guys for your replies think it will have to be second battery


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

To run a 12v compressor fridge you really need a minimum of 300ah LBs, and if poss EHU and 200w of solar.

Lots of lads on SBMCC have plumped for the compressor type, I'll stick with a 3 way anytime.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

It's no use fitting a bigger battery, what is needed is more charging power. Unless you have the means to support the load AND recharge the battery, you're on a loser.

3-way fridge on gas takes zero power. On 12V it takes 100Watts, same on EHU.

A compressor fridge running at 2.5A continuously will take 60ah in 24 hours, it should be possible to support that with a 100W solar panel, given sunny days, but given cloudy days you'll struggle.

Often not realised how little solar panels will give in the UK. We've just bought 4 X 100W panels for the Mercedes, simply to ensure we can keep our 220AH batteries fully charged at all times.

Peter


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