Quote:
Originally Posted by BrucePerens
On a perfectly clear day; when the panels have been recently cleaned and all bird poop, dirt, and sap has been removed; when the sun happens to be exactly overhead, ignoring any issues of resistance in your wires, etc.
My 400 watts of panels do keep the compressor 'fridge, which uses much less current than the absorbtion 'fridge, running happily, along with fans, lights, and phone chargers. I would not expect them to work with an absorbtion fridge. And this is parking in an open field.
I just figure my panels will run at 1/4 rated capacity in real-world situations. And they hardly work at all when partially shaded. Park in the woods and you'd better have brought your generator.
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This has been the most helpful post regarding solar, in some ways. I knew that solar panels would not put out the rated power unless at perfectly ideal conditions. Knowing they hardly work in shaded areas, which is where I like to camp, the initial cost for solar makes little sense for me.
Back to the fridge and battery:
I'll still keep my absorbtion fridge. At night the freezer is enough to freeze cold packs so we can transfer them to the main fridge to keep it cool while travelling. There appears to be little use for running the fridge on battery. I did notice that, even when connected to my truck and driving all day, it wouldn't keep the battery charged with the fridge on.