RV Photo voltaic methods will be something from a single panel you intention on the solar when you’re parked someplace, to a dozen or extra panels mounted to your roof. How a lot photo voltaic is the correct amount? Sizing your RV Photo voltaic system correctly can prevent money and time in addition to be sure your system performs as anticipated. This text is concentrated on determining simply what number of photo voltaic panels you want.
RV Photo voltaic System Sizing
Folks have informed us their solely massive highway block to getting a system, isn’t figuring out how a lot photo voltaic they want. I’ll even admit I didn’t know both, and bought an multi functional equipment that works nice, however isn’t fairly as massive as I wanted. You possibly can learn my overview of that equipment right here.
It doesn’t matter for those who’re dwelling the Van Life or RV Life or rocking a College Bus Conversion, the way in which you choose the scale of your system is similar.
Step one is to learn the way a lot energy you’ll be utilizing. That is probably the most tedious half, but in addition crucial. It’s essential to add up the full electrical energy used from each equipment you may have. The simplest manner to determine the full energy is to transform your entire calculations into watts. Don’t fear, there may be a simple manner to do that too!
RV Photo voltaic Energy Math
All your main home equipment could have a sticker on them someplace that claims what number of Amps its attracts and what number of Volts it runs on. For instance, now we have a residential fridge in our RV and contained in the door I discover the ability ranking sticker under.
Right here you see that our fridge runs on 115 Volts and attracts 3 Amps. To transform this to watts, we use the method AMPS x VOLTS = WATTS. So doing 3 x 115 = 345, we all know that our fridge is utilizing 345 Watts per hour when it’s working. I determine the fridge is barely truly working half of the day, and in standby mode the opposite half, so we take our Hourly Wattage (345) and multiply that by the Run Time (12) per day and get 4,140 Complete Watts Per Day.
Straightforward proper? Now we simply have to try this identical factor for all of the home equipment in your RV, and write it down, so we will tally up the full watts per day for all of them. As soon as now we have a complete wattage for every thing we’re going to be working in our RV, then we will transfer on to the subsequent step, which is choosing a sort of battery to retailer our RV Photo voltaic Energy.
Flooded Lead Acid
In terms of RV Batteries there are 3 foremost sorts you must select from. The commonest one, and the one that’s almost definitely in your RV from the manufacturing facility, is a Flooded Lead Acid (FLA) Deep Cycle.
It’s just like the battery in your automobile, however designed to have the ability to drain down earlier than being recharged. The FLA type of battery is able to a 50% discharge with out damaging it earlier than it must be recharged.
A FLA Deep Cycle is sweet for a median of 5 years earlier than they have to be changed. Whereas they do have the bottom up entrance prices, they do require some upkeep to maximise their life span. After a median of 200 discharge and recharge cycles, a FLA battery will begin to have a decline within the quantity of vitality they will retailer.
FLA batteries additionally have to be in an exterior compartment, and that compartment must be vented to the surface air. Through the charging cycle they produce gasoline emissions that might kill you if they’re in an inside space of your RV or Van.
AGM Batteries
The subsequent kind of battery known as an Absorbent Glass Matt (AGM) Battery. An AGM battery is a complicated model of the usual FLA Battery. One main attraction to them is that they’re fully sealed, so there is no such thing as a hazard of battery acid being spilled out of them.
AGM Batteries are additionally upkeep free and final on common twice as lengthy than an ordinary FLA Battery. On the up entrance price they’re going to price 20 to 50 p.c extra per battery relying on the scale of the battery.
LiFePO4 Batteries
The final kind of battery is a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4). That is thought-about to be the holy grail in RV Photo voltaic methods. A LiFePO4 battery will be discharged 80 p.c with out lack of energy or doing harm to the battery itself. Most LiFePO4 batteries will final by means of 5,000 charging cycles.
At a fee of 1 cost cycle per day with a photo voltaic system, it ought to final you round 12 years in your RV. One other benefit to the LiFePO4 is it may deal with a lot bigger sustained energy utilization than its lead acid counterparts. In case you are planning on working an AC unit along with your photo voltaic system, that is the way in which to go.
The LiFePO4 does have the very best up entrance price, at a median of three occasions the worth of a FLA battery, nonetheless they’re additionally just one third the burden. Relying on the scale of your RV Photo voltaic system it’s possible you’ll want a number of batteries to retailer the ability, in order that weight can add up quick.
How Many Batteries?
After you have determined which sort of battery is one of the best match on your finances and energy wants, the subsequent step is to determine simply what number of batteries you want. For this we’re going to consult with the Complete Watts Per Day from step 1. So shall we say that after you added all of it up, you bought a complete of 10,000 watts per day.
You possibly can convert the Amp Hours of the battery you select into watts utilizing the identical method to maintain every thing straightforward. For this instance lets assume we’re going to use a 200 Amp Hour LiFePO4 battery. So doing our math of 200 Amp Hours X 12 Volts = 2,400 Watts.
In an effort to run every thing for twenty-four hours and not using a recharge, you would wish 5 batteries. If you need to have the ability to run every thing for 48 hours and not using a recharge, you would wish 10 batteries. You’re solely restricted on the variety of days you go by your individual finances and out there battery area.
Many RV Photo voltaic professionals advocate with the ability to run for 48 hours on battery energy alone in case of foul climate.
How Many RV Photo voltaic Panels Do I Want?
So right here is the place the maths will get a bit difficult, however not unattainable. It’s essential to know the way a lot Peak Solar you’ll get every day to cost your batteries again to 100 P.c. Close to the equator you get extra, close to Canada you get much less. We’re going to use Common US Irradiance of 5.3 to assist determine this one out. Since we’re going to be touring in all places, the quantity will change anyway primarily based in your location.
To learn the way a lot Complete Photo voltaic Energy you want, you divide your day by day want by the 5.3 common Peak Solar time. Utilizing our 10,000 watt instance from above, we divide 10,000 by 5.3 for a complete of 1,886 Watts Of Photo voltaic Panels Wanted. To offer your self a cushion, and make your math simpler, spherical it as much as 2,000 Watts Of Photo voltaic Panels.
There are a number of combos you are able to do to realize the two,000 Watts you want. You are able to do 20 One Hundred Watt Panels. Or you are able to do 10 Two Hundred Watt panels. You are able to do 5 4 Hundred Watt Panels. You see what I’m getting at.
The approximate RV Photo voltaic Panel dimension is 2 Toes by 4 Toes. How a lot out there roof area you may have, will decide how manel panels you’ll be able to truly match up there, which is able to inform you what wattage you want. For instance, say you may have sufficient room on the roof of your RV to solely match 4 panels. In an effort to get the wanted 2,000 watts, you would wish 4 500 Watt panels.
What Dimension Photo voltaic Cost Controller Do I Want?
The reply to this query will rely solely on the Photo voltaic Panel Voltage, Photo voltaic Panel Wattage, and for those who plan to wire your Photo voltaic Panels in Collection, Parallel, or Collection-Parallel. Your greatest plan of action is to ask your RV Photo voltaic seller what gauge wire you have to to go from the roof of your RV, which manner the panels ought to be wired collectively, and which of their cost controllers mates with the remainder of the system one of the best.
