Oh The Sun Shines Bright On My Old Trailer Home

[james kent]

I know that some of you have huge solar pannels and some have minimum. Just what will EACH size really do?
For instance, how quickly will a 15w pannel recharge a battery and/or what will it support. Same question for 30w and for 45w?
If I start with a 15w pannel and a class 27 battery, will I be able to support a 40 qt, 12v cooler, a fan at times and overhead trailer lights in the evening? OR, do I have to move up to a larger pannel now? I am presently just using a 5w pannel for my inside lights [non led] in the evening and it is just adequate to recharge the system, if there's plenty of sunlight in the daytime.

[james kent]

Here's some information that I have found, using a 30Watt solar panel as an example

Typical power consumption..wattage/hr
Sump/Bilge pump...............100
CB radio...............................5
Clock Radio...........................5
Computer............................50
Cooler,12v[3A] Electric.........36
Lights [Compact 40w equiv....10
Satellite Dish........................50
TV 12".................................20

Power Output of a 12v solar panel generating 30Watts[at]15V=2Amps

Weekly Output...A 30Watt solar panel will generate 1470 Watts 98Amps} =30W x 7 hours x 7 days/week

Weekly Battery Charging Capacity...1470W will provide approximately 98Amps into a 12V battery over a 7 day period.

In a typical week a 30W solar panel will operate......
Item Wattage Hours of use
Sump pump 100 14
CB Radio 5 294
Lights 10 147
TV 20 73
Laptop 50 29
Satellite Dish 50 29
Cooler 36 41
Stereo 50 29