The REDARC Solar range allows you to get away from traditional camp sites and mains power, but choosing the right setup requires a little planning. By understanding your power usage, selecting the right battery bank size, and combining this with smart charging, you’ll achieve the best results.
NOTE: Factors such as sunlight hours, weather conditions and a number of other variables can affect actual solar panel output. The above calculations are a rough guide to assist you in choosing the right solar panel for your setup, however if you're unsure, contact REDARC for expert advice.
REDARC offers a variety of solar blanket sizes. All are lightweight, fold away easily for storage, and are more compact than traditional folding solar panels.
So, how do you decide which one you need? Let’s work through an example using a fridge and one LED light.
Calculating power draw, usage and battery capacity
Step 1 - List your loads
Check each appliance for its current draw (usually shown on the label):
- Fridge: 2A (average)
- LED light: 3A
Step 2 - Multiply by usage time
Multiply the current draw (A) of each appliance by the hours it is used in 24hrs (h). This will give you the total amp hours (Ah) required per day for each appliance.
Fridge: 2A × 24h = 48Ah
LED light: 3A × 5h = 15Ah
Step 3 - Add it all together
Tally up all of your items and you will have the total amp hours likely to be consumed in any given day.
48Ah + 15Ah = 63Ah per day.
Step 4 - Consider the size of your battery
Before we can work out what size solar blanket you need, we need to know the size of the battery. If you're using a 120Ah deep cycle battery, it should only be discharged 50% to ensure the best battery life. So, for this battery, we will assume 60Ah is usable.
Step 5 - Consider solar input
A 115W SunPower Solar Blanket can supply a maximum power current of 5.8A. With approximately 6hrs of sunlight a day, your blanket can supply 34.8Ah per day (5.8A x 6h = 34.8Ah).
Therefore, each day to understand the drain on your battery calculate consumption less solar recharge into the battery.
63Ah - 34.8Ah = 28.2Ah
With 60Ah usable from your battery, you can stay off-grid for just over 2 days (60Ah ÷ 28.2Ah = 2.12).
Standard battery charge using portable solar
The table below outlines how long your battery can last without any other form of charge, using our complete range of portable solar blankets, with the same loads in our example.
