Solar systems are a great way to keep your batteries charged when boondocking. A solar panel is just one component of a system that includes the battery, solar panel, controler and even an optional inverter. Here is a comprehensive article on the subject. RV Batteries, Inverters and Solar
Answers to Common boler Questions - Boler.ca
[…] SolarSolar panels are a great addition and have made boondocking for longer periods of time easier. I often get asked “Can I run a refrigerator on solar?”. The easy answer is you cannot run anything on a solar panel, let me clarify. A solar panel is a sun powered battery charger, during the day it recharges your batteries, your electrical devices use the power stored in the batteries, a solar panel recharges and maintains the energy in your batteries. The size or output of the solar panels you need depends on several factors including: the capacity of your battery or batteries, how much power you use, the amount of sun and time the panel(s) are exposed to direct sun. Here is an article by an expert. […]
Robin Clason
Hi! I’m new to the Boler community as I’ve just purchased my first little one. I’d love to get some advice on what solar panels, batteries, etc. I could buy to use! Thank you,
Robin
Ian
There is no single answer, it depends on many things but the three initial questions are what electrical items you want to power? How long do you want to be off grid? and how much do you want to spend? In my boler I off grid a lot, I use propane for the fridge and cooking/beverages, the only electrical power I need is for LED lights, the fresh water pump, and USB outlets to charge my phone. In my case I have a single deep cycle battery and an 80 watt solar panel recharges the battery to full capacity during an average day of sun. The more electrical draw you add will increase the need to increase battery capacity and then more solar panels to recharge those batteries. Lithium batteries provide higher capacity but also cost multiple times more for the batteries and associated electrical components needed. The link posted in my article gives a good foundation, here is a link to a basic solar calculator https://www.etrailer.com/rv-solar-calculator