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Probably every mobile home sold in Spain carries at least one solar panel, but the reality is that the vast majority of users do not know how many solar panels are necessary for their way of traveling or even if it is not even necessary.
We will start with types of plates. There are different types of solar panels, but the most widespread in the motorhome world are monocrystalline or polycrystalline 12V. The difference between one plate and another is the glass, one of them is uniform and another is made up of a heterogeneous mixture of crystals, although at first glance it is not appreciable, and we see a crystal.
In polycrystalline solar panels the performance is worse because the light does not pass through a homogeneous crystal. Does this mean that a 150W polycrystalline solar panel is worse than a monocrystalline solar panel? Absolutely not, a 150W solar panel is a 150W solar panel, either monocrystalline or polycrystalline. The difference will probably lie in their size, monocrystalline solar panels will probably achieve the same power as a polycrystalline one but on a smaller surface.
There are more expensive and cheaper solar panels, in addition to their materials being better and more durable, the difference usually lies in the ability to give more power per unit area.
So, do I need the highest performance solar panel? This will depend on the power we want to install, if we want to have 150W in our motorhome, it will generally not matter, since there will be no problem in being able to place this plate on the roof, if instead we want to have 750W, we probably cannot install 5 normal plates 150W and we will have to resort to smaller plates that give the same performance to be able to place them all on the ceiling.
Once legacy here, how much power do we need? Before continuing I would like to define some terms. 3 amps at 230V is not the same as 3 amps at 12V. In general, we talk about currents in motorhomes, since batteries measure their capacity in amperes. A 100A AGM battery has approximately a real 70A, but these are at 12V, if instead we used an inverter to convert it to 230V and we want to power a coffee maker, we no longer have 70A, if not 3.65A. This is because the only thing that is constant in terms of electricity when we change voltages is energy, and this is neither the Volts nor the Amps, but rather the watts. To calculate the watts the formula is very simple:
Therefore, in the example that we have put, a battery has 70A, and the battery is 12V, so it has an available stored energy of approximately 840W. If we are at 230V and we have 3.65A and we multiply we obtain the same 840W, this is why, in order not to be wrong, we must always speak in watts.
Let's do an example calculation. Seeing the consumptions that appear in the devices we want to use. It is important to indicate that the watts that appear in these devices are those that they consume throughout an hour.
The sum of all these consumptions is:
500W + 210W + 60W + 100W + 40W = 910W
To this we can add a security 10% to assume the consumption of the electronics of the refrigerator, the heating, etc. Thus:
910W * 1.1 = 1000W
We already know how much we consume day by day, but how much power does a solar panel give us a day? Approximately and according to the advice of the manufacturers we can make the calculation based on the following assumption. A solar panel, in summer, has approximately a 65% of performance over the nominal power, and approximately we can take advantage of 5 hours a day, so a 150W plate will give us approximately:
150W * 0.65 * 5 = 487W
So with approximately 2 solar panels of 150W it would be enough, but what about winter? In winter we have less sun, so we tend to calculate it, for safety more or less in half and each plate would give us about 250W, so you would need 4 plates of 150W.
So do I have to install 4 boards? Not necessarily, with these 4 plates I know that for these consumptions I am practically autonomous, but what if I only put 2 plates? If we place two plates in summer we have practically autonomy but not in winter.
If we know that we consume 1000W a day and that in winter the 2 plates provide us with about 500W, it means that we lose 500W daily.
If we start with two fully charged 100A batteries because we have made a long trip, and we want to be unemployed for a few days to go sightseeing, when will the batteries run out?
100A AGM batteries have approximately 70th reais, if we carry 2 batteries we will have about 140A. As the battery works at 12V, our available power is:
140A * 12V = 1680W
If daily we lose 500W
1680W / 500W = 3 days of autonomy.
Remember that it is not convenient to take the battery to very low levels, so this third last day I would try not to use the microwave, in this way I give it some margin. Also keep in mind that to recharge 2 batteries that are very low you will have to circulate, a lot, at least 6 or 8 hours.
A couple of things before we finish. It is important to bear in mind that even if you do not consume anything, it is good to always put a solar panel, AGM batteries when they have a discharge that does not charge in about 2 weeks or a month is sulphated, and this part is not recovered, a solar panel it will not help the batteries last longer. (We can talk about a change from having to change in 1 or 2 years to changing it between 3 and 5 years, this is more than double).
On the other hand, these calculations are for normal regulators, there are some high performance MPPT regulators that can obtain up to 20% of power, so with these a single plate in summer would give us about 600W instead of 500W, and in winter about 300W instead of 250W. Therefore, if we are in critical powers, because the consumptions are high, it is a great help. If instead our consumptions are small, and the solar panel is more than enough, it does not make sense to spend more on this type of regulator.
We hope that with this little article it will be clear how much each user needs to install power in solar panels, or failing that, how much autonomy they have approximately with the installed power.
Muchas gracias por tu artículo, estoy presto a a camperizar una Mercedes 413 y es mi primer experiencia por lo que tu artículo me será de mucha utilidad.
I want to put two solar panels of 160 watts each, how would I get more performance for a motorhome at 12 volts, in series or in parallel
Hola , la placa solar es capaz de cargar al 100×100 una batería agm en una autocaravana que este estacionada con un 50%de carga a unos 12,4voltios ? Teniendo todo apagado en su interior?
Hello, how are you? Thank you very much for the wonderful explanation, it has been very helpful
a greeting
Hello, I have a Benimar Tessoro 496 motorhome. I have a solar panel I think 140 W but I would like to put a microwave and a smoke extractor. How many plates would you recommend and how much would it cost with the entire installation? Thanks a lot
My mobile 696 696 965 187
Hello, I want to know what regular and battery would be good for a 360w solar panel
Two plates can be connected, one of 100 and the other of 150 in series
multifunction inverter charger 1kw 1000w 12vcd.95A This model is for motorhomes. I AM VERY INTERESTED BECAUSE THEY SELL IT TO ME AT A GOOD PRICE.
Hello! I want to put a 160w plate with a 20A regulator. My consumption is from a compressor fridge (connected to 12v) 35w and I would conicide charging with a mobile. I have an auxiliary battery of 85 ah. Would it be worth it?
Hello, it is possible to combine a polycrystalline plate and a 140w monocrystalline in a motorhome, I have a polycrystalline and I want to add another, and I thought of a monocrystalline for when the sun does not hit so hard, to compensate,
Thank you
Dear friends, we are newbies in this and we do not know about technicians in the Malaga area, we have a breakdown and we do not know where, we have contacted through your website for being one of those who could sell us spare parts, I explain the case, we have An independent caravan with solar energy, a plate an epever VS4524AU regulator that always marks charging and does not go from two lines, to anything that we connect something low to a line and does not finish charging the batteries that are two sealed gel one of 135 ah 12 volts and the other 220ah 12 volts in parallel which makes 355 ah 12 volts before the big one was 250 ah), you can tell us what to do to check that the system is failing if the regulator or the board worked well before , Through the plug with the car does something also charge battery? , thanks
Very well explained, thank you .. you have solved the question. Now I have to find what I need to be able to spend an air conditioning unit with batteries and an inverter in my motorhome.
Hello, I need a plate basically for a Pekeña refrigerator 2 LED lights and Pekeña.k tv do you advise me? I have thought 150 and a 100th battery, all this tamforming from 12v to 230
I would need the same for a caravan, I think, for the small caravan fridge, charging mobile, the little light you put at bedtime and the TV at most.
What I need? approximate prices? where to find
thanks
HELLO: I just bought a motorhome, it comes with a 150 W solar panel. When we go out the battery is fully charged, if we are static for three days, they use the electrical appliances at a minimum, the four lines that indicate the full charge remain in one . That in summer. That's normal?
Good afternoon, what kit would you need (plate, battery and distributor), for a 50w fridge, three mobiles, and two 12w led bulbs.?
hello I have 2 95ah battery installed in a caravan. I use one for lighting and a water pump and the other for a converter from 12v to 220v where I connect a television and I can switch it to use it as a backup in case I even have the other one. Being the batteries fully charged a day I can use them 2 hours a day since I have 4 led lights on promptly, the 12v to 220v converter and the water pump. each battery can last me 1 week without problems. What panel would I need so that it is always at maximum load. since I only need current for about 2 hours a day. or how many watts would I need since I do not take the energy directly from the plate but from the batteries
Thanks a lot
Well, it depends a lot on the battery and the required consumption. In your case, I would install a second solar panel and possibly a higher capacity agm battery
Hello, for 2 led bulbs, a 12 v fan and a 12 v TV, what solar panel and gel battery would you need? Thanks a lot
Can you help me, please, I'm not very into a caravan, I have a 382 home car rally, and I would like to use a three-drawer freezer, a small plasma phone, and an oven, what would I need to have electricity?. Make it easy for me that I don't understand much. greetings
Could you power the air conditioning? And how many levers do you advise me? I live in the United States and I am interested in feeding the refrigerator the air and the lights
I have two solar panels ... I have two gel batteries of 100ah each ... the air conditioning ... 2 hours does it reach me ...?
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