How many solar watts to run edgestar fridge

barny

New member
How many solar watts to run edgestar fridge. I have 90 watts of solar and a diehard platinum group 31 battery 100 amp hour and its just not keeping amp hours up. Its been 105 degrees out lately so I know that will make it run more. So I was just wondering How many solar watts people were using

Thanks Scott
 

LandCruiserPhil

Expedition Leader
Scott what is your measured output of your panel? On a recent test my 63Q Edgestar pulls ~65-70 watts. Several thing can effect the performance here in AZ. How full is your fridge? What is in the fridge, liquids holds the cold much better then lets say a bag of celery. How well is the fridge ventilated? Do you have an insulated blanky?

Chances are you are going to be on the edge with 90W system in AZ.
 

barny

New member
Thanks for responding, no insulated blanket,fridge ventilated good, 4-5 inches all the way around, fridge empty, not sure of measured output of panels at peak of day .still learning how to use this TriMetric Battery Monitor right now 9:30 am watts 37.0 amps 2.1
 

unseenone

Explorer
You can't get any sense of the fridges performance when it is empty. These things are most efficient when they're already cold, and as full as possible, as mentioned by Barny. Measure the power how you would use the fridge. Load it up, let it get cool, open it periodically as it you might in the field.
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
So the Edgestar is supposed to draw 5.4A@12VDC, or about 65Watts.

Assume the fridge runs 50% of the time (you need to figure out your real world number), 5.4A x 24 hr x 50% = about 65 Amp Hours.

Assume it is the best day ever, you get 10 hours of direct sunlight and generate 80 Watts of power each hour for 10 hours = 6.7A x 10 hr = 67 Amp Hours.

Short answer is - you need a second panel (at least).
 

barny

New member
Thanks that answer makes sense, I just check watts and amps at high noon, panels are producing 70 watts and 5.2 amps so I am now looking for 100 watt panel to add
 

Jonathan Hanson

Well-known member
Remember that the output of photovoltaic panels drops in hot weather, just as your fridge's power requirements go up. Your 70-watt peak at noon is just that—a peak; the average output will be significantly lower.

We have 200 watts worth of panels on the JATAC, which is enough to keep up with all our demands—fridge, lights, laptops, camera battery recharging, etc.
 

wrcsixeight

Adventurer
Please note that while the DHP group 31 is an excellent battery, when cycled deeply, it requires very high recharging currents to reach full energy density.

A hundred amp hour DHP/Odyssey group 31 wants a minimum of 40 amps applied until 14.7 volts is reached, 14.7 volts is then to be held for 4 hours as the current tapers.

Solar Cannot do this. 40 amps of solar is ~800 watts.

So after an outing, one needs to have a recharging source capable of 40 amps and holding 14.7 for 4 hours. It is unlikely you alternator will accomplish this task either, so you are likely not beginning an outing with the battery fully charged, and your solar cannot keep up with the load of the fridge, and the poor battery is getting nothing close to what it needs to return to full charge.

You can view the solar as negating your battery usage, if you have enough solar, but you cannot view it as a proper recharging source on an Amp hungry AGM battery like Odyssey which requires a high bulk charge current.

If these high bulk currents are not met occasionally, on a regularly cycled battery, the battery will not live a long life, nor perform as well as it otherwise would had it been recharged according to the manufacturer's regimen.
 

barny

New member
I didn't know efficiency went down in hot weather,learned something new. Thanks all for good advice
 

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