Solar Panel Charging Capability

Canyoneer

We'll be taking out T@B CSS Boondock out soon, and am curious about the solar panel keeping the battery charged.  We're mostly concerned about the fridge.  We'll most likely only use lights, and the fan and that's about it.  Any experience you can share about the solar's capability.  Thanks.

VictoriaP

There are a lot of variables involved in your question. I’m assuming you’re referring to the factory mounted panel? Different model years have different fridges that consume different amounts of power. Different fans use different amounts of power. Actual usable battery capacity can be as little as 40-50 amp hours on some dealer supplied batteries (AGM or lithium will have more usable than traditional lead acid). Solar production in the northern half of the US differs quite a bit from the southern half, especially at this time of year. Your campsite could be shaded or full sun, or face the wrong direction. And of course, there’s weather.

Add all that up, and your ability to boondock on just solar ranges from one day to near infinite.

Best place to start is to post your model year, battery capacity and type (this is on the battery label), and general location. As an example, I wouldn’t recommend trying to boondock with the stock panel and a 100 amp hour (50 usable) lead acid battery in the northwest this week. That’s a recipe for a dead battery unless you’re using a cooler with ice in place of the fridge. But in the desert South? Might be fine.

SLJ

Get yourself a really good cooler as backup. I just added 200 watts of portable I can set out in the sun and I'm betting there will be times where it won't be enough.

pthomas745

There are more variables:  what battery size (in amp hours?).  What trailer do you have, and what fridge model do you have?  It is very easy to predict, with some accuracy, exactly the power needs for a day of the 12V fridges.  Many owners report how easy it is to boondock.

So: what trailer?  What size battery?  Which fridge?

The main variables for solar: are you shaded? Is the weather good?

AnOldUR

VictoriaP said:

Solar production in the northern half of the US differs quite a bit from the southern half, especially at this time of year.

Maybe not all that relevant to @canyoneer, but this is our first time T@Bing in the southwest. Dispersed camping here in AZ, topping off our 250ah of AGM with 200W of solar is not the problem it can sometimes be in the northeast. That’s with running the (12V) fridge, fan, lights and watching a movie before hitting the sack. We won’t miss the wind as we travel north, but not having to worry about power is a big plus.

Mickerly

The CSS refrigerator is a Norcold NR740. It should only draw about 2.8 amps per hour. It is very efficient. There are many discussions concerning the 320S with the three way frige. They don't apply to the clamshell.

The Jensen receiver uses power all the time. I would advise adding an off switch. The video monitors will also draw power. We just unplug the power cord located on the left side of the monitor.

If you are worried about power, you can place frozen water bottles in the freezer and turn off the refrigerator at night. It will stay cold. An ice chest is a reasonable idea.

If you are going to camp much without external power, I highly recommend adding a shunt based battery monitor. Without one, you really can't keep track of the battery usage.

Different types of batteries is a labyrinth of choices and options based on where you are and how you use the trailer. 

SLJ

I added a bank of switches to cut the power to the overhead LEDs, USB outlets, Stereo, Blue-Ray, TV, etc. All these are constant drains on the battery.