If your daily energy consumption is 5000 watts, you'll need at least two 400W solar panels to power your RV's appliances and devices. Keep in mind that you're unlikely to get 7 hours of maximum sunlight every day. Solar panels can still collect energy on cloudy or rainy days, but their production will decline. In general, you need 300 watts of solar panel power for every 100 amps per hour of battery storage capacity in your RV.
So, if you have two 12-volt batteries or any combination of batteries equivalent to between 200 and 250 AH, the power of your solar panel should not be less than 600 watts. More information: For larger motorhomes with more batteries, such as Fifth Wheels motorhomes and Class B motorhomes with a battery capacity of between 400 and 600 AH, you should have at least 1200 watts of solar panel energy in your motorhome. These recommendations are based on the metric according to which you can produce 30 AH of battery charge with a 100 watt solar panel, between 5 and 9 hours of exposure to the sun. The typical solar panel found in most recreational vehicles ranges from 150 to 200 watts.
In the meantime, you have to manually position the ground panels in the direction of the sun and connect them to your solar charge controller. And see why it's so important to consult the professionals before biting more than you can do with a self-made solar panel installation. Believe it or not, some solar installers only use VHB tape and don't drill holes to place the solar panels. Sam, that 1000 watt heater might only work for 1 or 2 hours with the battery and solar panels.
I have decided to upgrade my motorhome with solar energy and I don't know how many solar panels are needed. Solar energy is a beautiful thing because it harnesses the sun's rays and converts the energy into electricity that can be used to power the appliances in your RV. Newer solar cell technologies offer higher efficiency rates, and some products produce up to 415 watts per panel. A 100 watt solar panel generates approximately 30 AH of battery charge when exposed to the sun for up to 9 hours.
But you should also keep in mind that the solar panels in your motorhome will not always receive optimal exposure to sunlight because they are mounted. When you mount solar panels on the roof of your motorhome, they can't be tilted to face the sun at a 90-degree angle, reducing the total power delivered to the battery storage. Some scammers run the generator in the morning to charge it in bulk and then let their solar panels finish the charging process. A 100 watt solar panel placed on the roof will produce approximately 30 AH of 12 V battery charge (see legal notice below), which equates to 360 Wh.
If you want to run an electric heater, you'll need more batteries, preferably lithium batteries, and a lot more solar panels. Meanwhile, solar panels on the ground can be tilted and rotated to face the sun at a 90-degree angle.
