A 100-watt photo voltaic panel is compact and low cost, making it one of the crucial fashionable panel sizes for an RV.
When you’re questioning what this tiny 100-watt panel can run in your RV, you’ve come to the precise place.
It’s necessary to notice that vitality manufacturing issues greater than energy output concerning photo voltaic panels. Due to this, we train you the way to calculate a 100-watt photo voltaic panel’s estimated vitality manufacturing (in kWh) of a 100-watt photo voltaic panel.
Furthermore, we take you thru a number of examples to reveal what a 100-watt photo voltaic panel can run in an RV — will it be capable of run a fridge and even an AC?
Let’s discover out! You could be pleasantly shocked by the vitality you may get out of this little panel.
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How To Calculate The Vitality Manufacturing Of A 100-Watt Photo voltaic Panel
Calculating a 100-watt photo voltaic panel’s vitality manufacturing is comparatively simple, due to photo voltaic calculators.
Vitality manufacturing is determined by three key variables:
- Photo voltaic irradiation at your location (variety of peak solar hours (PSH)
- Native temperature
- Photo voltaic panel orientation
A peak solar hour (PSH) is outlined as 1 hour of full photo voltaic irradiation (1000W/m2) below which the ability output of the panel reaches its most worth (100W for a 100-watt photo voltaic panel).
We are able to precisely predict the typical PSH anyplace on earth due to empirical measurements and satellite tv for pc information assortment. For instance, in California, it varies between 5 and seven.5h. Which means a 100W photo voltaic panel on this space can produce between 0.5kWh and 0.75kWh per day.
Nevertheless, this determine is inaccurate because it doesn’t embody system loss, comparable to the temperature impact.
Please word: Excessive temperatures negatively have an effect on the ability output of a photo voltaic panel.
We advocate utilizing a full prediction mannequin, comparable to Photo voltaic International Atlas, for extra exact estimation. Go to their web site and enter your location; you’ll discover a number of items of knowledge, essentially the most related being the PVOUT (Particular photovoltaic energy output).
Calculation Time
Multiply the PVOUT by the ability output of your photo voltaic panel to get the each day vitality manufacturing:
Let’s do the maths for a 100W photo voltaic panel in California (PVOUT= 4.9kWh/kWp)
100W= 0.1kW
4.9kWh x 0.1= 0.49kWh
A 100W photo voltaic panel will produce 0.49kWh per day on common in California.
100-Watt Photo voltaic Panel: Vitality Manufacturing Vs. Energy Output
As beforehand talked about, vitality issues greater than energy in terms of photo voltaic panels.
Energy will be elevated by an inverter whose job is to convert DC into AC will increase energy, whereas the photo voltaic panel solely produces vitality.
For instance, a 100-watt photo voltaic panel can produce 0.5kWh in a day. The panel doesn’t instantly use this vitality. As an alternative, it first travels to the battery. Ultimately, the battery will energy the load by way of the inverter.
0.5 kWh is sufficient to run a 1000W equipment for half-hour. Due to this fact, you may run a 1kW equipment for half-hour with just one 100-watt photo voltaic panel!
Vitality Manufacturing Of A 100W Photo voltaic Panel In An RV (All U.S. States)
A 100W photo voltaic panel on an RV within the U.S. will produce a each day common of 0.4 kWh.
This determine varies between 0.5 kWh for essentially the most favorable states (Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada) and 0.33 kWh for the least sunny states (New York, Washington, and Connecticut).
That’s a 50% vitality manufacturing distinction for a similar photo voltaic panel!
Look out on your state within the checklist beneath:
| U.S. State | PVOUT common (kWh/kWp) | 100W photo voltaic panel manufacturing per day (kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 4 | 0.4 |
| Arizona | 4.9 | 0.49 |
| Arkansas | 4.1 | 0.41 |
| California | 4.8 | 0.48 |
| Colorado | 4.4 | 0.44 |
| Connecticut | 3.4 | 0.34 |
| Florida | 4 | 0.4 |
| Georgia | 4 | 0.4 |
| Hawaii | 3.6 | 0.36 |
| Idaho | 4.4 | 0.44 |
| Illinois | 3.9 | 0.39 |
| Indiana | 3.8 | 0.38 |
| Iowa | 4 | 0.4 |
| Kansas | 4.5 | 0.45 |
| Kentucky | 3.9 | 0.39 |
| Louisiana | 4.1 | 0.41 |
| Maine | 3.6 | 0.36 |
| Maryland | 3.9 | 0.39 |
| Massachusetts | 3.8 | 0.38 |
| Michigan | 3.6 | 0.36 |
| Minnesota | 3.9 | 0.39 |
| Mississippi | 4.1 | 0.41 |
| Missouri | 4 | 0.4 |
| Montana | 4 | 0.4 |
| Nebraska | 4.4 | 0.44 |
| Nevada | 4.9 | 0.49 |
| New Hampshire | 3.7 | 0.37 |
| New Jersey | 3.9 | 0.39 |
| New Mexico | 5.2 | 0.52 |
| New York | 3.4 | 0.34 |
| North Carolina | 4.2 | 0.42 |
| North Dakota | 4.2 | 0.42 |
| Ohio | 3.7 | 0.37 |
| Oklahoma | 4.4 | 0.44 |
| Oregon | 4.3 | 0.43 |
| Pennsylvania | 3.5 | 0.35 |
| Rhode Island | 3.9 | 0.39 |
| South Carolina | 4.3 | 0.43 |
| South Dakota | 4.2 | 0.42 |
| Tennessee | 3.9 | 0.39 |
| Texas | 4.4 | 0.44 |
| Utah | 4.6 | 0.46 |
| Vermont | 3.4 | 0.34 |
| Virginia | 4.1 | 0.41 |
| Washington | 3.3 | 0.33 |
| West Virginia | 3.6 | 0.36 |
| Wisconsin | 3.8 | 0.38 |
| Wyoming | 4.6 | 0.46 |
Can A 100-Watt Photo voltaic Panel Run A Fridge?
It could shock you {that a} 100-watt photo voltaic panel can run a fridge in an RV all through nearly each U.S. state (besides Alaska).
Now, this gained’t be your family-size fridge, however you’ll nonetheless be capable of take pleasure in a cool drink and protect your recent product concurrently.
We’ve got established a brief checklist of various fridge fashions alongside their each day vitality use; our findings are primarily based on the information collected for the Vitality Star program:
We found {that a} 1.6-1.7cu.ft fridge with a tiny freezer makes use of a mean of 0.45kWh each day. A 100W photo voltaic panel will run this sort of fridge in sunny states comparable to Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
For all different states, a 100-watt photo voltaic panel in an RV will solely run a 1.1cu.ft fridge.
Associated Studying: RV Photo voltaic System (Full information to going off-grid)
Can A 100-Watt Photo voltaic Panel Run A Freezer?
In most US states, a 100-watt photo voltaic panel produces sufficient vitality to run a small freezer for 24h.
Here’s a brief checklist of freezers with their usable quantity and each day vitality consumption:
The two.5 cu.ft mannequin from Avanti is the one freezer a 100W photo voltaic panel can run in most U.S. states.
Bigger freezers (as much as 5.1 cu.ft) will be powered by a 100W photo voltaic panel within the sunny states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, or Utah.
Can A 100-Watt Photo voltaic Panel Run An AC?
Briefly, a 100-watt photo voltaic panel doesn’t produce sufficient vitality to run an AC.
We came upon that the AC with the bottom consumption is the Koolking — KWH051CE1A, with a cooling capability of 5000 btu/h and vitality use of 0.850kWh per day.
That is nearly two instances greater than a 100W photo voltaic panel’s common vitality manufacturing within the U.S.
When you’d prefer to run this sort of equipment, we advocate utilizing at the least a 200W photo voltaic panel that produces twice the vitality of a 100-watt photo voltaic panel.
Can A 100-Watt Photo voltaic Panel Run A TV?
A 100-watt photo voltaic panel may have no downside operating a TV, even bigger fashions as much as 64.5in.
We assumed that the TV is ON 5 hours a day; the remainder of the time (19h), it’s on standby mode.
Under is the each day vitality consumption of 4 TVs with sizes from 32in – 64.5in:
We demonstrated earlier {that a} photo voltaic panel’s common each day vitality manufacturing is 0.4 kWh within the U.S. — from 0.33 kWh per day in Washington state to 0.52 kWh per day in New Mexico.
Consequently, in most U.S. states, you’ll be capable of run a TV with a 100-watt photo voltaic panel.
What Will A 100-Watt Photo voltaic Panel Run In An RV?
A 100-watt photo voltaic panel is probably the smallest panel dimension for an RV, however don’t dismiss it as a ineffective gadget. It could actually run a TV (18in), energy a fan, led lights, cost your cell gadgets, and even run an RV water pump!
First, we’d prefer to remind you {that a} photo voltaic panel alone can’t run home equipment. Photo voltaic panels produce DC electrical energy, whereas your gadgets solely use AC electrical energy.
As such, it’s essential to use photo voltaic panels together with a photo voltaic charger, batteries, and an inverter to create a whole system able to powering RV home equipment.
We’ve established {that a} 100W photo voltaic panel produces 0.4 kWh on common within the U.S. Preserving this in thoughts, we looked for the commonest RV home equipment and tried to fulfill the 0.4 kWh restrict. Listed below are our findings:
| Equipment | Energy (Watt) | Hours of use | Vitality (kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| TV 18in | 10 | 5 | 0.054 |
| electrical fan | 40 | 5 | 0.2 |
| LED gentle -2*5W | 10 | 5 | 0.05 |
| Cell phone | 20 | 2 | 0.04 |
| RV water pump | 75 | 45 min | 0.056 |
| Complete | 0.4 |
As you may see, the electrical fan is essentially the most energy-intensive equipment. Nevertheless, use it for under two hours, and also you’ll be capable of cost a laptop computer along with your financial savings.
Finally
The important thing to autonomy with an RV is a top quality photo voltaic battery. It ought to have a capability giant sufficient for at the least 2 days of use.
Last Ideas
The 100-watt photo voltaic panel is the most well-liked dimension as a result of it’s low cost and compact.
Though its energy output is comparatively low, it may nonetheless produce a good quantity of vitality in a day: 0.4 kWh on common within the U.S. With 0.4 kWh, you may already run a number of home equipment in an RV.
Surprisingly, we found {that a} 100-watt photo voltaic panel may energy a small fridge or a freezer in most U.S. states.
Keep in mind that vitality manufacturing issues essentially the most, as it may be saved in a battery and later transformed to AC electrical energy by way of an inverter.
Our closing recommendation: know your vitality and energy wants and select your photo voltaic panel accordingly whereas remembering that photo voltaic panel generates vitality and inverter provides energy.
