got a Nissan homy van I want to put a solar/inverter/battery unit in to primarily run an electric only 50l fridge,a few led interior lights and maybe a laptop and maybe other things if I can,but get confused doing the math from online sites. the fridge probably draws the most power and will be on 24/7 while on say a weekend trip the sticker off the fridge says rated voltage 240v-50hz rated current 0.95A power input 68W I already have two 130W solar panels I brought a year or so ago but lost interest,and I plan on buying say a good quality 1500-2000W inverter(if this is enough power) I don't have a clue what size or how many 12v deep cycle batteries I sort of need to get to comfortably handle the constant draw while not discharging the battery below 50% all the time given the solar panels only give full charge for day time if its really sunny? I don't know how much two 130 panels can pump into a battery/s under optimum sun or anything,and I cant fit anymore panels. am I pushing crap up a hill here?i see on here you can get a 12v 335A battery for $789 and 5 year warranty,is that sufficient?
chas10,
Aug 23, 6:56pm
Perhaps look at changing the fridge to an LPG powered one instead. We had one in our caravan and it was fantastic. Then the other items you mentioned could run off your battery without drawing too much power.
tintop,
Aug 23, 7:03pm
Or a 12V fridge. At a guess this would seem to me to be a cheaper path, and no losses in the 12V to 230V conversion.
But that is just a guess at the moment.
danchop,
Aug 23, 7:34pm
I could go down this path but have decided I ultimately want access to 230V anyway,so am trying to work round the current fridge
cabrio1,
Aug 23, 7:42pm
Here goes, a million different views/options for this. I run 2 12v batteries to give 24v. My bus runs 24 v. You can run 2 batteries in series if you like, will give more amp hours. Buy a 12 or 24 volt fridge. A great investment. Mine draws 10w and will freeze a 6 pack of beer if I set it too cold. You sound like you have enough panels, I run 190 watt and run fridge,TV,lights,phones,stereo- and the batteries are back at full charge by 11am on a sunny day. Look up aasolar they have great stuff at great prices. Two 12v deep cycles for less price as the one you quoted. Message me on my listing with your phone number if you like I'll talk you through some option.
cabrio1,
Aug 23, 7:43pm
Oh you can still run an inverter to get 240v should you need it
danchop,
Aug 23, 8:53pm
I take it all your accessories are 24v?and you don't use an inverter?my computer which I need while camping anyway has to be mains power,and I already have the panels,id have to buy battery/s anyway,and the cost of a decent 12v fridge is around the same price as a decent inverter I'm guessing $800 anyway? with the specs I gave of my fridge do you know what its drawing?
petermcg,
Aug 23, 9:53pm
I am thinking that running the fridge on electric at any voltage is not the best. A gas fridge would be my prefered option.
cabrio1,
Aug 23, 9:56pm
My accessories are 12 and 24 volt. I use a 24/12 converter for all the 12v stuff. I would use an inverter for a computer power supply. Would need to be pure sine wave though to get clean enough power but fairly small if you use low draw items such as computer. Lights are led and run 9/30 volts, very low draw on those. Yep a decent fridge will run that plus, mine was $1100. Worth it though. Quiet, runs 12 or 24v and hardly draws any power. Yours is drawing 68 watts mine 10 so yours is drawing 6 times more power plus any extra for the inverter. Pretty inefficient. Have you got solar controller? Also a gadget that allows the alternator to charge the batteries on the run.
johotech,
Aug 23, 11:02pm
Unfortunately Cabrio, you??
cabrio1,
Sep 6, 5:37am
Yep could be up the wazoo with those bits lol. But the system operates fantstically, the fridge isn't a dan floss and has 10 watt on the sticker on the back so took that info from there. Parallel/ series possibly a mix up there but runs 24 v stepped down to 12 where required, my alternator is 24v. Bloody marvellous, too much power so I'm fitting an amp to use it up.
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