This number will be the number of solar panels necessary to cover your air conditioning needs.
Run an ac with solar panels.
Air conditioners typically use between 1 2kw 2 5kw of power and a typical solar panel system has an energy output of 2kw 4kw.
Even with the air conditioner on high my solar panel system still makes enough power to add 2 000 watts into the batteries.
So we ll assume these to give you an idea.
When it s hottest and the sun is shining the brightest i can make lots of power.
We suggest a battery bank of 800 amp hours.
The short answer is the number of solar panels depends on which solar panels and air conditioner you have.
This is also assuming of course you have a lot of battery power too.
You will need at least 1 800 watts of solar panels to run your rv air conditioner.
Since a well pump could easily be the biggest electrical load in your off grid system it is worth taking the time to consider your options.
A few factors determine how many solar panels you will require to run an air conditioner.
How much you use the air conditioner.
You multiply the combined wattage of the solar panels by the number of hours sunlight they will receive per day.
A solar panel can run an air conditioner but it ll use a large portion of your panel s capacity.
A good rule of thumb is 4 hours.
This allows me to run the ac full blast to keep my house nice and cool.
Number of panels additional watts needed watts per panel.
You generally have two options for this an ac pump with inverter or a dc powered well pump designed for use in an off grid systems.
The size of the air conditioner and solar panels.
As an example let s consider the amperage draw of our rv ac and how many hours per day we plan to run the unit.
With a properly sized solar system you can run a well from solar power.
Using solar panels to run air conditioner units ac units use a lot of electricity but they re really no match for a well sized solar installation.
So if you have a powerful air conditioner you ll need to make sure your solar panel system can handle it.
This is assuming you are considering using 12 volt rv grade panels.
1200 watts divided by 1 000 equals 1 2 kwh produced per day.
The advantage of solar powered air conditioning.
If you re connected to the grid and you ve got the roof space installing enough solar panels to cover your entire electricity usage including ac is a very doable task and one that many homeowners have done before.
Example rv ac daily amperage draw 150 amps hr x 5 hrs day 750 ah day.