Most electrical systems in RV and boats run on 12 or 24 ...



The average RV owner with usual needs will generally find that 8amps of charging and 135ahr of storage capacity per person will provide an adequate system.

Most electrical systems in RV and boats run on 12 volts DC. These can all be easily powered from solar panels and a couple of batteries. You can reduce your power requirements, and the number of solar panels needed in an RV by simply switching to energy efficient lights, these put out the same light as incandescent, but consume about ¼ the power. 

The number of panels and the size of the batteries depends on how much power you will consume. If all you run is lights, a small TV, and the usual equipment that comes built in, 1 to 3 50 or 85 watt panels and 2 to 4 heavy duty deep-cycle batteries will probably do the job. Batteries can be 2 to 4 [or more] deep cycle 6V or deep cycle 12V. Regardless of which arrangement or size you use, it is much more important not to mix old with new batteries or different types (like gelled with flooded). If the age difference is more than a year between old and new batteries, it will cause problems. You can get an approximate idea of how much battery you need (in amp-hours) by figuring out how many watts you need per day, and assuming that your batteries should be able to supply at least twice that much (you don't want to run your batteries totally dead). Most RV-house battery systems should end up with around 400 amp-hours or more of battery storage capacity.

If you want to run an inverter for a microwave, coffee machine, vacuum cleaner, or other standard AC appliances you will need more, from three to six panels. Some 12 volt appliances are available, but generally more expensive than standard household appliances, so you may want a small True Sine Wave inverter in the 600-1500 watt size for appliances such as larger TV's and microwaves.

A rough estimate of how much energy a solar module will produce in a day is between 2.5 and 4 times the rated wattage of the module. This obviously depends greatly on the location, angle and amount of available sunlight in a given day. The better your understanding of the system and its components, the more of this resource you will capture. If you are unwilling to do the homework your results will be limited to your effort, end of story.

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