Adding batteries to an existing solar system on an RV proves useful in weeks when those cloudy days become more frequent. Simply divide the kilowatt hours by the voltage of your battery and you’ll get the amount needed in your bank. Once you’ve done that, it’s a matter of simple division.
To figure out how many batteries you need in your 3 kW bank, you’d want to obtain the watt hours using the voltage and amperage values and then convert that into kilowatt hours. Same as before, we take our total amp hours and multiply it by 3 cloudy days to get the total amp hours. Ideally, you’d want a battery bank big enough to last for 3 or 4 consecutive cloudy days. If you’re constantly on the move and come across very cloudy conditions, the solar panels won’t do much in harnessing the sun’s energy.Ī battery that’s been charging for the days when there has been sun will be more than capable to keep you powered during those cloudy days. This allows you to make use of the power when the sun goes down. The purpose of the battery bank in an RV’s solar system is to provide a repository for the energy being generated during the day.
#SOLAR RV BATTERIES HOW TO#
Knowing how to calculate battery capacity for solar systems, both RV and residential, is easy if we already have our solar needs from earlier. Adding an extra 13% to 20% to that wattage should be the recommended wattage. We say minimum because you’re not always guaranteed to get 7 hours of sun every day. This is the minimum wattage of solar panels needed for your RV system. Multiplying the two values together gives us 600W. The average solar panel for an RV generates around 20V. Solar panels are measured in watts, but we have amperage, so simply multiplying volts by amps gives us the wattage. For this example, let’s say we’re left with 30A. If we take our amp hours and divide it by the 7 sun hours, we’re left with the total amperage that the solar panels should generate for 7 hours.
Now that we have this value, we can assume we get around 7 hours of sunlight per day. This number is what the solar panels would need to replace every day when the sun is shining. What we need to do is gather the amp hours of all our devices and add them together to get the total amp hours your RV draws in a day. We suggest making a list of all the electrical devices, their amperage draw of those devices, and the number of hours that you plan on using those devices.įor example, if the lights system in your RV draws around 3A and you’re using it for 8 hours, multiply those two values and you have 24 Amp-hours. The purpose of the solar panels in your RV solar system is to replenish the electricity you use in 24 hours.ĭetermining the number of solar panels needed for the RV can be calculated by gathering your typical electricity usage per day.
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