How Many Solar Panels To Run a Fridge/Freezer?

[@cleversolarpower]

🎁 Free Diagrams: cleversolarpower.com 📖 My Best-Selling book on Amazon: cleversolarpower.com/off-grid-solar-power-simplified

[@conanmarcfortunato6581]

hi, can you share the energy meter that you use to measure the fridge power consumption

[@ashyslashy5818]

YOU SUCK AT MATH

[@hawk1481]

You can wire a relay into the thermostat on the refrigerator to start up the inverter to run the refrigerator

[@Tab7.6.Tab7.6]

​@@conanmarcfortunato6581All you need to check your refrigerator's energy consumption is a Tuya/Smart Life WiFi smart plug with energy metering.

[@nazariiboichyshyn4300]

DISLIKE! you should use LFP batteries with 4000 cycles to 80% of capacity not LiIon with 800 cycles!!!

[@tobiasMachete]

We got a similar type of fridge with freezer. The power consumption is between 17 and 19 kWh per month. I got 2x 400watt panels and a 25.6v (24v) 200ah lithium battery. Here in the middle of Germany we can run the fridge independent of the power grid from the end of February till the beginning of November. Greetings

[@cleversolarpower]

Thanks for sharing Tobias!

[@johnbeton4058]

​@@cleversolarpower You sound like someone from Belgium.

[@smardigitalvideo]

What kind of inverter.o share the list of material solar panel converter inverter batteries thamks

[@tobiasMachete]

Inverter is a ECTIVE SSI10. 2x Canadian Solar 400w panel's. Battery is a LiTime 24v LiFe 200ah

[@cleversolarpower]

@johnbeton4058 That's because I am

[@henkmeiring01]

Very straightforward informative explanation.Everyone that runs household should watch this video.Very difficult to get correct size solar system for appliances that cycles on and off.

[@JebusHypocristosX]

One system to run everything including the heat pump. Why power each appliance individually?

[@cactusflowerbeekeeping97]

I have an old VW camper frig in my Vw van, I started with 100watts and 1 battery, ended up with 200watts and 3 batteries, works great (and a 20 amp charge controller).

[@trentvlak]

You should look at the 12V frig like Euhomy.

[@Dragonfiregum]

300w and 1 72AH 12v lead acid battery is enough for running a 5-7cu ft freezer year round when you use a temperature controller to make it behave as a fridge set 32f-38f instead.

[@cactusflowerbeekeeping97]

@@trentvlak It's been my goal not to put money in my desert beater (the frig was $50, solar panels $75 each, batteries $100 each), still more than I wanted to spend.

[@Rpol_404]

Very good analysis and guidelines. One thing that is missing is a decent set of panels will still provide some power - even on a cloudy day. I’ve read anywhere from 10% to 20% (100-200wh for a 1k system). So you might not need the 3 day buffer, but I still like his recommended headroom.

[@cleversolarpower]

You are right, i did not include this in the calculation to make it easier to digest.

[@zweed69]

yes when its just cloudy you can a bit of charge but when its dark and very poor weather you will get close to zero even with a large array

[@outbackeddie]

Great video. I calculated the power needs of my freezer a few months ago after using a Kill-a-Watt for a week, but I totally missed the idle power draw factor. Due to my far north location, there's no way I can economically power my freezer with solar power year-round, but if I can manage to power it during the summer months that will be a big help. I don't worry about the winter months since I can just put the freezer food outside where it is almost always well below freezing (often subzero temps).

[@plinble]

You can make up a 12V thermostat with relay to switch on the inverter. If you know what you're doing you may be able to wire it into the fridge sensor. Downside is that you might not be getting the fridge light.

[@tobbleboii5988]

this might not be an option for you at all, but moving your fridge outside might save some power if the temperature difference between the fridge and the surrounding air is cut in half, the power consumption should be (slightly higher than) half of what it used to be but i do realize might not be something you can just do that easily

[@richardwebb6267]

Batteries. You must store everything you can get.

[@junkerzn7312]

Note that the 2000W inverter shown in the video is probably massively overkill just to run a fridge. It does depend on the fridge's surge load, but I can run my home fridge with an 800VA Victron Phoenix inverter and that one has an idle consumption of around 10W. That's in "normal" operation mode, not "eco" mode. You basically want the smallest inverter that is still able to deal with the startup surge of the equipment. -Matt

[@stuartgray5877]

I always thought it would be "cool" to have a fridge that could sample the outside air and use IT to cool the fridge when it is cold enough outside, instead of electricity.

[@jackiemecheri4418]

Normally this goes over my head but you actually explained how to work it out what I need I UNDERSTAND ...impressed thanks

[@cleversolarpower]

Glad its helpful!

[@StofStuiver]

Sounds about right. If you want to go cheap and efficient, you can go for a minimal option with regard to everything. It then does require you to monitor battery status closely and unplug your freezer units and hook em up to the normal grid when your input power is low. So basically have 2 separate systems. Also helps a lot if you lay down a strict policy on yourself for opening the fridge/freezer door, when power is low. Saves a lot of energy. Also keep your fridge/freezer well organised, so it doesnt have to be open long. And provide them with enough room (depends on which model) to cool itself. etc

[@shagsheep8832]

Something that was missed is the defrost cycles with upright freezers. Newer upright fridge/freezers aren't so bad compared to older models. But the most efficient combo could be an inverter fridge and a basic chest freezer (no defrost cycle").

[@funnycatvideos5490]

Direct drive compressors from inverter refrigerators do not last Long.

[@utubeape]

Great work. i can see it really makes sense to keep a fridge in a cold place, so that it requires less power in the winter when solar is a problen. I imagine opening the fridge door less in colder weather too

[@fibber2u]

Surely you just keep the air-conditioning on full blast!🤔 That'll keep it cool in summer.

[@justicator]

I've been slowly working on my offgrid system and one of the challenges for me is location and number of panels. My local government requires a lot to mount panels on my home DIY, so I have free-standing, movable panels, but this is not ideal as it takes up more usable space on my already limited size lawn, and is an eyesore to my spouse and neighbors. I currently only have 400 watts of panels, and might reasonably be able to increase that to 600 or 800 maximum. I have way more space in my basement where the storage batteries are, so my strategy is going to be to increase my battery capacity and potentially remotely charge some additional batteries from another location or from my car alternator if needed to top up or extend my runtime in the instances where my panels will not be able to keep up with the demand over a longer period of time.

My _beloved_ local government doesn't give a shit where I put panels on my property but after cleaning the panels on the roof a few times and those on the ground level... I will be getting those buggers off the roof very soon. The occasional brooming is way, way easier at less than 2m above ground. And they cool better. Just a thought...

[@thesecond5588]

After 37 years as a carpenter having installed rolled roofing, shingles, shakes and tin roofing, I've never subscribed to adding more holes in the roof to attach solar panels.

[@ksenyxths]

Well explained, but I think you missed the part where the fridge runs directly on solar energy during the day. For instance, if the battery is fully charged, the inverter utilizes solar energy to power the fridge. Consequently, the fridge only draws power from the battery during periods of low sunlight. It's feasible to operate the fridge using only half of this system, although it naturally depends on the area where the PV panels are installed.

[@cleversolarpower]

You are right. But that would make the calculations unnecessarily complex. This is aimed for people new to solar and would be overwhelming. Thank you for your feedback.

[@AliGsa-iw2tq]

😢😊😅😅​@@cleversolarpower

[@ihunnawisdom2376]

​@@cleversolarpowerdo you have video for this ?

[@sebastian19745]

Actually, a fridge and a freezer are not the most power hungry things around the house. Those that cook and heat water with electricity have it tough. Very good info, thanks. I will sent the video to all my friends that ask me how many panels and battery capacity they need to run theirs house totally off-grid.

[@cleversolarpower]

Indeed, heating and cooling are the most power-hungry. At least with cooling, you know there is sunshine, too. Thanks, Sebastian!

[@sebastian19745]

@@cleversolarpower I am really glad I found your channel, you explain all verry well, easy to understand and follow the flow. Thank you.

[@Woke_detector]

@@sebastian19745 Agreed. And a pleasure to hear things described without the abrasive 'up^speak' of which westerners have grown so fond.

[@DC-te1gw]

pay attention to the fridge compressor start up wattage needed as that can be 4kw, so you will need a 4.5kw inverter just to get that compressor running. once it is running it will constantly use a much lower wattage.

[@plymouth5714]

The only problem is that they would need to be completely off grid - if you are still connected to the mains and you have a power cut the solar generation automatically shuts down - otherwise the electricity workers can't get a totally dead power line to work on! (You'd think they could get a system to auto disconnect from the grid until the power came back on so we could carry on using our own generation!)

[@terrymalone4531]

your penmanship is great!

[@larryperry2094]

I run my ancient half size fridge on 6 HF solar panels and 2 100ah li-time batteries. I have my system wired in a 24 volt configuration and a rich solar 40 amp charge controller. I have had to run the generator a couple times but it has been very minimal. When you have a smaller system and are off grid or just don't want to use wall power or a generator it pays to watch the weather and learn your own personal equipment. Also going to a 24volt system is the best,easiest and cheapest way to go. 24 volt also has a little bit better conversion efficiency. I started with 12volt and can definitely vouch for the efficiency factor of going to 24volt.

[@Matthew_Loutner]

One word about inverter sizing: I recommend buying one with the same rating as a standard wall socket. That gives you the opportunity to plug in any household appliance in the future without having to buy another inverter. I use a 2000 wh inverter for every appliance I have.

[@vincentrobinette1507]

Be sure and get a true sine wave inverter, NOT a modified sine wave inverter!

[@Matthew_Loutner]

@@vincentrobinette1507 I am using a modified sine wave inverter and have not had any problems except for my clocks do not keep time correctly. But I do agree with you that a person is better off with a true sine wave inverter.

[@notconnected3815]

I tried a 300W inverter on my 75W fridge. It turns out, that the compressor needs higher currents during start up. So my inverter always went into overload. A 800W inverter works now, but it also gets very noisy in that moment. So more than 1000W would be recommended.

[@Matthew_Loutner]

@notconnected3815 Refrigerators that have the new-style rotary inverter compressor do not have a high start up surge. The conventional style refrigerator does.

[@notconnected3815]

@@Matthew_Loutner Oh, i didn't know that. So someone who is planning to build such a system should measure the peak current of that particular fridge before choosing an inverter. Thanks for the tip!

[@postiemania]

Very informative video, I appreciate your attention to detail. I have a UPS system of 6200 watts and 5100 watt hours of battery (4 X 102Ah) @12.5v so it is a 50 volt system. Inverter uses 50 watts an hour idle current. I will add more battery power next. Thanks for the video.

[@Kizito-pn8on]

Thanks for this opportunity to everybody, because not all of us have this knowledge. You give straight away all your answers, wonderful channel

[@anthonympakakota8189]

Thank you for your clear and concise explanations. Just a comment regarding this video. I noted you presented here that your total measured fridge energy consumption for Feb was 4,288 Wh, and it is displayed in the video diagrams as 4,288 kWh. The presentation displayed the unit at 4,288 kWh. My question: Should it be 4,288Wh, 4,288 kWh or 4.288kWh? appreciate your clarification.. thanks.. Great video BTW... enjoying watch them.

[@cleversolarpower]

Thanks. I'm in Europe so that's how we put our commas and decimal signs. I will adjust in the future to fit us standards because most of my viewers are from there.

[@markb-axtonmx]

I HAVE 6, 100 WATT PANELS ON MY SYSTEM. 60 AMP CHARGE CONTROLLER, 8, 100 AMP 12 VOLT LITHIUM BATTERIES AND 1500 WATT INVERTER WIRED FOR 26.6 VOLT SYSTEM. IT RUNS MY FULL SIZE REFRIDGERATOR, 40 INCH TV, OVERHEAD LIGHT, INTERNET ROUTER, 2 SECURITY CAMERA'S, COMPUTER, CORDLESS PHONE, LAMP AND ALARM CLOCK IN BEDROOM, AND SEVERAL CORLESS DRILL CHARGERS. HAS BEEN UP AND RUNNING FOR A LITTLE OVER A YEAR NOW AND HAS PERFORMED PERFECTLY SO FAR. AND WILL RUN ALL THAT EVEN AFTER UP TO 5 CLOUDY DAYS. LOVE MY SOLAR SYSTEM.

[@marshallzink7282]

So the secret here is batteries because if you have 600 watts of panels and 800ah of battery,then it means the secret is more batteries

[@victorvazquez7065]

Did you ever had to use a gas generator to charge the batteries? Im new to this stuff.

[@markfeldhaus1]

You could use a smaller fridge, keep full with some ice packs in freezer, and use the supermarket for long term storage. Also, live close enough to the supermarket to walk but far enough to get exercise. Use a roller cart to save your back.

[@clemarkstheone.]

Well explained and illustrated. Thanks.

[@iiinsaiii]

I have a shed that has a full French door fridge,, upright freezer a attic fanI and some led lights. I have it connected to a 12v system. I have 6- 100ah beep cycle batteries, wired in parallel. Two charge controllers that have one 320watt panels connect to each. I’ve been running this for close to 3 years. During the summer it when it runs the hardest and the batteries barely go below 80%. Those panels fully charge the system, even on rainy days.

[@cleversolarpower]

Thanks for sharing your system.

[@bruce-le-smith]

very helpful, thank you. I liked the walk through of the calaculations, that made it easy for me to understand

[@Mimer6]

I have bought a compressor Refrigerator for the Motorhome 12 / 24 V for comparison. Cool 101 liters Freeze 31 liters, 457 Wh/24 h and no converter is needed for operation. Not big, but in the RV it is sufficient and if you have it at home, you can have 2 and turn one off when you don't have much food.

[@GaryArbaugh]

Thank you so much for these informative videos! We are slowly building our system with the hopes of one day being off grid. Currently we have 1800W solar panels at 24volts, 3 each 24volt gel batteries and a 3500W inverter... but we are still wanting to learn more about the capacity and what we can run continually on what we have. Thank you again!

[@plingboy6223]

look up, lithium phosphate batteries. wth good bms they cant last more than 15 years.

[@sdrc92126]

In a solar system, everything is powered by batteries and an inverter, not directly from the solar panels. Look up PVWatts online solar calculator. I have been offgrid for 10+ years and found it accurate.

[@flykids6489]

Add some type of water source with Columbine waterfalls for continuous power

[@22balogh22]

I found a brand new Liebhr 24 inch full size fridge at the brick (Canada)for a cabin i have,, it was missing some of the front covers and door handles and I got it for $500 , according to its spec sheet it uses 0.789 kwh over a 24 hour period , 288kwh annually , its power specs are 183 watts at 2.3 amps which I think is amazing for a fridge this size,, I have power at the cabin but we arent always there so I am trying to put together a solar backup when the power goes out strictly for the fridge(Shuswap was devastated by a huge fire recently and power was out for weeks)

[@cleversolarpower]

Yes, Liebhrr fridges and freezers are efficient. They cost a lot more, but if you are off grid it will save you money in the long term.

[@katebygrave]

Excellent video, well thought through and presented.

[@cleversolarpower]

Thank you!

[@briandalrymple9986]

Most inverters have a switch to turn off the stand by function. Utilise this switch into the fridge controller circuit, and when the fridge compressor is not needing to run, disable the standby on the inverter. When the compressor needs to run, just pony an auxiliary contact to turn the inverter to run state. The battery will still charge, but the panels will not need to overcome the standby current while charging on a non-standby state.

[@johnhanley2431]

To extend your idea further. Most modern refrigerators will hold temperature for many hours. Put the inverter on a timer that turns off the inverter at 10 PM and back on at 6 AM. Then cycle on and off during the day. That can reduce standby inverter losses by 50% or more.

[@willgarrod9907]

We got 4 (100watts) facing east and 1(100watt) facing west. It runs out big fridge freezer and outside lights for 10months in a year. In December and Jan we charge out AGM battery bank at midnight during the cheap rate. The whole thing saves us about £70/yr

[@myfalconry76]

I run a dorm fridge, it’s like a regular fridge but smaller has a fridge door and freezer door up top. I run it fine continuously with 2 100 watt panels and a 100amp hour battery

[@cleversolarpower]

Yes that is possible. I made a video with an RV fridge and it only consumes 200Wh per day.

[@BobBob-il2ku]

Great video it took me months to figure out these same calculation’s & you just broke it down in 6 minutes.

[@cleversolarpower]

Glad the video was helpful!

[@alkiou3613]

That's a great way to calculate your solar system, in a way that's plenty for your essential loads.

[@plymouth5714]

We recently had solar panels fitted, ten in total on an east west facing roof (five each side). Never looked too much in the past as you definitely needed a south facing roof with the older type panels. We have two upright freezers, a fridge-freezer and a fridge. When the sun is shining the panels run all of those plus a 2Kw ceramic radiator. Also had a 8.4Kwh storage battery fitted in the attic, again after a good sunny day the battery will continue powering everything up to about 10pm. On a cloudy day the panels still reduce any mains consumption by around 20p per hour. The first full month after they were fitted our overall consumption dropped by 25Kw. Now all we need is the ruddy SEG agreement to come through!

[@P7ab]

Do you ever do anything yourself?

[@robertkubrick3738]

Thanks. I'm not interested in Solar but I am interested in batteries and generator charging. Your explanation was very understandable.

[@cleversolarpower]

Glad i could help! Checkout my video about load shedding and adding a generator.

[@robertkubrick3738]

@@cleversolarpower Thank you and I appreciate. I have already given this some considerable thought and I now have multiple inverter generators sized to the loads or I could parallel them together for a massive capacity. I'm sceptical about large and expensive battery packs but I have some large phone type power banks that run a router, usb fans, lights so I don't have to run a generator all the time unless I want A/C, to cook , heat water, cycle the refrigerator, watch TV or do laundry.

[@808pathfinder]

I like your style, am hooked. KEEP-ON KEEPIN-ON

[@Pythagoras1plus]

i ran a fridge on a very small island system years ago. it worked with the cheap no-name inverter, but when i replaced it with a brand one (AEG) it started to kill my lead batteries every year until i noticed: the no-name brand had almost zero idle draw while the expensive brand one drew more than 20 watts. the brand inverter broke every few months and i got 3 warranty replacements until the lead battery exploded which destroyed the inverter for good

[@TechMa-iv8bm]

Amazing video, though there were some mistakes: 1. 0:05 - It shows that the fridge is using 4288 kWh, not Wh 2. 0:59 - 4288 divided by 7 is ~612.6W, so it is not exactly spot on (1:30) 3. 3:37 - No, you need to multiply it by 1.25 (100 / 80 = 1.25) The calculations are close enough, so in this case the battery capacity has just over 5% deficit.

[@beesknees6970]

I'm not getting that... 75 watts times 24 hrs in a day times 7 days is 12,600 watts or 12.6 KW a week. What am I missing?

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

You do realize that there's a coma between the 4 and the 288 in those kw/h numbers right? You do know what that means, right?

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

​@@beesknees6970you are missing that the fridge isn't constantly on. Sometimes it is idling. He explained it around 1:30.

[@beesknees6970]

@@TheAllMightyGodofCod Oh OK I see it now. I'm new to solar and trying to figure it all out. I'm wondering lately why doesn't everyone use 400-500 watt panels instead of 100 watt panels like I see alot of people saying they use.. They are out there, and wouldn't the higher watt panel charge your batteries faster? I'm needing a fast charge system as I have trees around me. I need to run a window ac that uses about 400 watts. I live in high heat and will need an ac when power goes out.

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

@@beesknees6970 well, I don't know the answer for that but my guess would be that it might cost them less to have 4X100w than a single 400w one... Either that or they live in places where the weather might damage the panel and that way, even if one gets damaged, they still have some ones going on... But that is just my guess, absolutely no facts/evidence to support my guess...

[@luimackjohnson302]

Thank you for sharing this informative video! Greetings from Madang, Papua New Guinea!

[@cleversolarpower]

Thanks!

[@masonwestling6406]

Your calculations are only enough to recharge the battery- if there is no load. You are also STILL running the refrigerator. That daily power draw also needs to be added to the panel capacity.

[@rgruenhaus]

I was thinking it was going to be a system with a battery being used while another battery was charging!

[@cs7th]

He is calculating the panels to charge 3 days of power in One Day of the worse charging month. Re-run the last section to clarify this info.

[@perfectomartinez3526]

What inverters are recommended? Thank you for the video and comments.

[@notconnected3815]

Good question. I have an 800W inverter, and it seems to get at it's limits in the moment the compressor starts. Thankfully my inverter has some short term overload capacity. Even if the fridge only consumes 75W in AVERAGE, during compressor start up it need's much more. First i tried it with a 300W inverter and it did not manage to handle the start up currents. It went into overload protection mode. The 800W does work, but it sounds very loud during that moment. I kept the 800W, but i would recommend more than 1000W. Maybe someone else here has tried it with a bigger inverter?

[@metamud8686]

So in the end, you still don't show how MANY solar panels are needed. I know that depends on how much the panels are rated for, but you're the one that comes up with the title. Then you gotta show.

[@PeterSedesse]

?? Because anyone who followed the math so far can easily do that final math problem based on the panels they buy. If you need 1200w of solar panels and you can't calculate how many 200w panels you need, you should probably just hire someone because you definitely won't get the solar controller or inverter right.

[@perfectomprg]

You need 3

[@jimjasper9851]

I’m sure he said 1,100 watts, therefore given a standard solar panel normally generates 250w, so you will need 5+

[@bustersbashers2280]

And this is why most people are not subscribed…!.!.!

[@BaldAndCurious]

He already did the heavy lifting, you can do the last computation yourself depending on what panel system you're buying.

[@zebasd]

Solar panels are not enough at all in winter where I live because it's dark outside and sun will not give me enough energy at all from October to March each year, the period where most energy is needed. For Scandinavia solar panels are worthless. I like your video you are absolutely correct

[@cleversolarpower]

A generator for winter will be the best option.

[@zebasd]

@@cleversolarpower A generator running on what? Fuel? even more expensive than connected to grid electricity

[@lucio788]

why not use Kwh?

[@vincentrobinette1507]

kWh would be more practical with a bigger system intended to run the whole house, not just one appliance.

[@cleversolarpower]

Exactly.

[@ihabahmed1132]

Very good analysis and guidelines, i will be happy i you do a video to How Many Solar Panels To Run a 1.0/1.5 ton Air conditioner.

[@cleversolarpower]

This one is in the making ✌Appreciate your sub!

[@johnhanley2431]

Your video is very nice but has several problems. 1) In the slide at 0:41 seconds, the "Energy Usage" shows 4,288 kWh. It should show 4,288 Wh. 2) You are not taking into account DC-DC losses (solar panels -> solar charger-> battery) which are 10% to 20%. 3) You are not including DC-AC losses (battery -> interverter -> AC) which are 10% to 20% but can be much higher for low power loads such as 75W. 4) You recommend three days of battery storage (good) but then recommend recharging the battery (3 days of charge) each day which is oversizing the solar panel array. 5) I do not recommend using the worst month of the year which results in higher cost and wasted solar production for most of the year. Instead, use a low-cost inverter generator to recharge the batteries on poor solar production days.

[@cleversolarpower]

Thanks for your comment John. It's using European decimal placements. I figured the people will figure it out. If I take every loss in account then nobody would end the video 😄. I'm displaying a still simplified calculation for the viewers who are new to solar. I made a video about how long a fridge will last. It talks about losses more in depth. It would be great if you could share your findings on that video as well. Thanks

[@johnhanley2431]

@@cleversolarpowerI did not mean to criticize your video as it is very good at covering the major factors to consider. I have watched some of your other videos and you have a good set of videos that share information.

[@yvanpimentel9950]

The power consumption in solar isn't that important as when is the power used,if the wattage is 225 you could fill it with Mas temp energy storage like salt water in bottle so no battery is needed, for solar horizontally refrigerator are better because cold air doesn't escape every time is open.

[@erroneouscode]

Through my own experience with such a system you may also be able to run a modern washing machine during peak sunlight hours (especially during summer) and have the batteries recover before sundown. That's dependent of course on inverter size and that the washing machine isn't heating it's own water. If smaller inverter is used that can't cope with all appliances running at the same time, then turning fridge/freezer off for a half hour wash will not impact food temps enough to be a concern.

[@GGameBoy11]

You must have a small fridge. Traditional Household fridge/freezer uses about 2kwh per day.

[@cleversolarpower]

It's an apartment fridge 220W.

[@binaryboyo9674]

Excellent Vid! Clear, Concise and with on screen calculations to make it easy to understand even for the layman! Great Job! 🙂👍 👏

[@cleversolarpower]

Glad you like it!

[@jacobuszwanenburg1629]

Good luck I’m on a boat in the caribe. The heat loss is amazing and a lot of battery power used for refrigeration. Certainly way more than your % lol without opening it at all

[@d-rot]

Hardly surprising that a boat fridge isn't as thermally efficient as a household one.

[@a64738]

I measured the old fridge and large deep freezer I had in my house and is summer it had power consumption of 70w over 24hours (70 x 24 =1,68KW/h) . So you would only need a couple large of solar panels at least but you would also need a battery bank so it can run during the night and make full use of the solar panel for charging.

[@cleversolarpower]

You are confusing Watts and Watt hours. If your fridge runs on 70Watts, assuming a duty cycle of 30%, then your daily power consumption is 70W*8h=560Wh.

[@a64738]

I have 1380w of flat mounted solar panels on my van and a 5000w/h battery bank, even when overcast it has no problem running the fridge and small freezer I have in my van (meaning during the day it tops up the batteries to fully charged even when overcast if I only run the fridge and freezer).

[@cleversolarpower]

That's a lot of solar power for a van!

[@brizee993]

For me, the biggest problem is the start-up surge of the fridge/freezer compressor. If you use a pure sine inverter (recommended for devices with motors), you need a much larger inverter than the actual fridge requires to provide this high start up current. You also need a battery that can supply this current periodically.

[@cleversolarpower]

Indeed. I have a 100W fridge and I use a 1500W inverter.

[@JOATMOFA]

Rather divide the daily required power by the usable battery power than multiplying it : e.g. You said : 1080Wh x 1.2 x 3 days = 3888Wh (x 120%) Rather : (1080Wh ÷ 0.8) x 3 days = 4050Wh (÷ 80%) Other than that, this is a brilliant video!

[@mikespangler98]

3.5 kw-hr per day for my refrigerator. In the summer there are 14 hours a daylight so one 300 W solar panel would do it assuming 90% efficiency from the inverter. In the winter 8 hours of sun light and the sun is lower in the sky so the panel only supplies 80% of the summer output. So I need three panels. But it's also true that the heavy overcast typical of winter cuts the panel's output to 7% of nameplate, or 1/14th. So 3 times 14 is 42. That number again... Summer is easy, winter not so much unless I move the refrigerator outside.

[@tatoute1]

you can save a lot by switching off the inverter when the fridge is idle, or even use a dc current compressor motor.

[@cleversolarpower]

I don't recommend that. A fridge turns on every 20 minutes or so to run for a few minutes. Are you going to turn on the inverter every 20 minutes? No, so you should leave the inverter on or get a DC fridge.

[@BRBodin]

The BMS on the battery bank need to be able to take 1110Wh charge too... on a 12V system that would be roughly 92A.. Also need to calculate loss in the inverter too..

[@barnowl6807]

My fridge with top freezer uses 210 W during normal running. When the frost free cycle kicks in it requires 900 watts for about 10 minutes. Size your system for peak loading or you may have surprise shut downs.

[@cleversolarpower]

That's a huge power draw for the defrost cycle! Never seen it this high.

[@henkmeiring01]

900 w is possible for defrost Because elements that heats up evaporator.Maybe possible to install lower wattage elements.But in general far better to use cooling system that fit with solar.Cheaper

[@elmerkilred159]

Most fridges use a large draw of electricity on the start up of the fridge each time it turns on. So, a start capacitor integrated into a battery rack might be beneficial. They sell something called "soft start" kits for air conditioning units which are start regulators that have a control board, and a start capacitor in them. (Super capacitors). There are also automobile/semi/RV battery chargers nowadays that are a bank of capacitors that have the cold cranking amps to start most vehicles. This could be looked at as another "soft start" device.

[@cleversolarpower]

The thing is, when you place them next to your battery, the power still has to go through the inverter. So having it installed this way, won't do anything for the surge. It would be better to place the capacitor on the AC side. Adding it to the DC side will help reduce the voltage drop if you have lead acid batteries, but i wouldn't worry about it with lithium.

[@billb945]

My 20 year old 18 cu ft fridge uses 1.8 kwh per day. Matches the online estimate. A new one uses approx 1.2 kwh/day but the payback time is hard to justify replacing a fridge that is working fine. 1.2 kwh would be easier on a solar generator system to run it for several days (or even 24/7) in the Winter in Ma.

[@moonhand8311]

Your videos are brilliant. Very clearly explained, and superb 'problem solving' scenarios. I am subscribed!

[@cleversolarpower]

Welcome aboard!

[@GerbenWulff]

I've done some math of my own and realised that it is a lot cheaper to get a small battery that can keep things running overnight and run a generator in case of bad weather. Instead of 4 kWh storage, just get 1 kWh and a generator. It also means you can make do with half the solar.

[@cleversolarpower]

Yes you can, but you will have to start the generator quite often then.

[@mountainmarauder2575]

Excellent!! I live off grid and my solar and wind run a 5000W (surge to 10,000W) modified sine wave inverter from a bank of surplus aircraft NiCad 12V batteries. We use propane for the fridge and that allows us to just turn off the inverter at bedtime. One of the problems we have run into is the startup load for the electric freezer on another portable system. We were using a 1000/2000W modified sine wave and had to go up to a 2000/4000W just to handle the start load. When it's running the load meter shows only about 45 watts. Also there are some appliances like blankets and heating pads that will not work on a modified sine wave inverter. I don't recall if he said the inverter was a pure sine wave or not.

[@BrainsSur]

Does inverter have its capacity

[@mountainmarauder2575]

@@BrainsSur Yes the 5K/10K is way more than we need for daily operations.

[@hwoodist]

Motors don't run as well with a modified sine wave.

[@P7ab]

​@@hwoodistthat's the most important part, especially at start up I believe.

[@danielking2944]

I’m constantly monitoring my power consumption and am surprised how little power it takes for baseline operation of my home. If the water heater or air conditioner is not running, the typical load is around 750 w. We have two refrigerators and one large upright freezer. I use contactors controlled by timers to run the water heater when the solar can’t keep up. While electric clothes dryer is the biggest load, it doesn’t run as often as the water heater. We try to use it after 8: pm when electricity is free on my contract with Reliant Energy in Texas.

[@cleversolarpower]

Free electricity after 8pm? Sign me up!

[@annwang5530]

Get 1500w solar panels (500w x3units) for a 75w fridge (around 500€ inverter and 48v batt included)

[@eliasa7919]

Can I use my electricity meter reading and follow the same steps you described in the video to calculate usage and sizing a system for the whole house?

[@cleversolarpower]

Yes, that would be even more accurate. 👍

[@ronayling1979]

I did it differently I used a voltage switch connected to a 12v battery charger, feeding a 100 amp hour battery and 5 100w solar panels if the battery volts fell below 11.5 then the charger switched on, when the battery volts rose above 13.8 the charger switched off the solar panels were connected across the battery 24/7 as is the 150w inverter, that way there is no interruption to the supply to the fridge freezer, ie if there is a time when the panels can't fully charge the battery ie some winter days and at night then the charger takes over, its a sort of mains assisted solar supply, that way the number of panels and size of battery is not to critical

[@stevenjohn350]

excellent..

[@shane_ohara51]

Just subscribed! Wow, best channel I’ve found for solar info! Thanks for the videos

[@cleversolarpower]

Thanks for your comment Shane!

[@matthewprather7386]

Less sun hours in winter will typically correspond to lower house temperature which will reduce energy usage per day. Thus, your solar sizing seems rather conservative (worst case). Otherwise, solid analysis.

[@llothar68]

Only when you use aircon, which is rare in Europe

[@briancase3936]

I followed along and the calc’s for my rig came out to 2300W solar and almost 800ah of lithium batteries! I have 1300w solar and 400 ah of lifpo now. I should probably add 2 more batteries, but I also have a generator if I have too many cloudy days, I just don’t like to run the generator if at all possible.

[@cleversolarpower]

I have made a video dedicated to sizing your system; go check it out for more information.

[@isleidyll286]

We have a 522 cubic liter (about 20 cubic feet) refrigerator operating in a room with the temperature between 25 and 30°C. This is in the Philippines without air-conditioning. We used Wattmeter and found a refrigerator power consumption of about 3 kWh per day. On a sunny day we can both run the refrigerator and recharge our batteries from our six 200w panels.

[@cleversolarpower]

That is a lot of power! Do you have an old fridge and is the grill at the back of the fridge free of any dust? Check if there is ice inside the fridge and run the defroster if needed. Some fridges get warm because there is ice buildup in the fridge.

[@isleidyll286]

This refrigerator seems to have the evaporator built into the sides of the refrigerator, which become hot when the compressor is running. There are no evaporator tubes at the back of the refrigerator.

[@llothar68]

Thanks I am in the Philippines too. How much is the heat loss nowadays on the panels. That killed the use of solar 20 years ago in Thailand

[@isleidyll286]

@@llothar68 recently, our weather has been exceptionally hot and sunny. the power generation from the solar panels seems excellent. Perhaps it would be somewhat better if it was somewhat cooler, but overall the panels are doing well in the 100°F weather we are having.

[@oz2pe]

​@@llothar68Now there are solar panels everywhere in Thailand, but i only get around 350Watts out of a 450Watt panel when it is 45°C (113°F) in the shadow

[@BobBob-il2ku]

Can we go off the energy star label then divide by 365 to get the daily watt hours used?

[@cleversolarpower]

You can, but I would add some extra because those are recorded in ideal situations. Just like you would never get the mileage out of the advertised values for a car.

[@olegmakarikhin]

Now we live in conditions of shortage of electricity generation. Sometimes the schedule and power from the network is such that 7 hours offline, 2 hours online. a family of 4 people, the refrigerator is opened maybe 30 times a day. I use cold accumulators, but they do not have time to freeze in 2 hours online, there is still a problem with radiator ventilation. Temperature conditions are 30 degrees Celsius. I made a device that blows the radiator out of cardboard and 12 cm fans for computers, and a power supply unit. In addition, I plan to provide power from batteries, unfortunately, solar panels are not available to me, because this is an apartment building. Thanks for the tutorial video.

[@cleversolarpower]

I would get a battery and inverter than can handle the 7 hours of running. Then get a charger and see that it will charge the battery full again in two hours. So a 2000W inverter, 12V 200Ah battery and a 14.6V 20A battery charger. Then your fridge can run from the power stored in the battery and recharge when the grid is back on.

[@chriswhinery]

There's a couple of tricks they won't tell you when building off-grid solar to maximize power at minimum cost. But, you'll have to think outside of modern convenience. First...set your panels up facing East and West with solar breakers that get flipped at noon. You'll pick up 6 to 8 extra hours of sun per day. Second... only use heavy draw appliances when the sun is out. Turn off the fridge at night and during heavy clouds. It will stay cold a long time. With these strategies, you can run that fridge with two 300w 10a panels each way, and 6 -12v batteries in a 24v pattern.

[@cleversolarpower]

That sounds like a big inconvenience. Why flip the breakers on at noon and not just leave them on? Why run the risk of spoiled food when you turn off the fridge?

[@chriswhinery]

@@cleversolarpower Because a refrigerator is insulated and is fine for 12 hours. Why drain your batteries? That seems a lot more inconvenient.

[@Sjradventures]

I have 200 watts and one 100 ah battery. A1500 watt inverter. My battery never gets below 11 volts. You also have to figure how many times the door gets opened.

[@owolabiadeteye5919]

Thanks for your guidance, pls television set that is rated in DC , 12Vdc/2.5A. can i used these parameters to calculate the wattage and as well the dc wattage to size the inverter?

[@cleversolarpower]

Power = current * volts. 2.5A*12V=30W. Your tv is 12VDC, so you don't need an inverter.

[@owolabiadeteye5919]

@@cleversolarpower thanks, I sincerely appreciate your response

[@ralfsxm851]

Living on my boat in the Caribbean I threw the fridge and chose not to have one. With an average temperature of 28 - 30 C° inside the boat the fridge sucked current like crazy and even heated the boat up. I do not need ice cold drinks. Water with the temperature of the environment is okay for me. For the longer turns canned food is a must.

[@cleversolarpower]

It would be interesting to see how you keep food fresh on a boat. Thanks for sharing your story!

[@ralfsxm851]

@@cleversolarpower Cruising near the coasts I buy small amounts of fresh food on a daily base like fruit, vegetables, eggs, bred etc.. For longer turns canned food, survival food, pasta, soups etc.. If I we wonna have a party someone brings ice cubes for the cooler box. That's it

[@crissgen]

Thanks for the video, my fridge consommation is 16W =1.6A , I tried it with my power station (bluetti E55 )then doesn’t work at all

[@cleversolarpower]

1.6A at 110V? That would be 176Wh*8h per day= 1408Wh/day. The bluetti E55 has 550Wh of storage, so yeah, will not work.

[@JanHeisterberg-Andersen]

What happened to the consumption while charging ? You must charge the battery and run the appliance - for 24 hours - to get a valid sizing. You must define your initial condition and reach the same condition again to have valid sizing.

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

Good point!

[@441greenleaf]

this calculation is correct if your solar panels facing the sun all day right? or you have automated tilters that turns the solar panels to sun thru out the day?

[@cleversolarpower]

South facing (in northern hemisphere) with 3 sunhours. Check the tool PV watts for your location.

[@AnonJohn143]

In diagram 1 on the left-hand side, red box. Energy usage is not 4288 kWh it is 3 decimals out for a week's consumption. Just a typo. Correct me if wrong. Having said that, i would have guessed 2 solar hours on 4k system. His figure of 4 takes into account factors I didn't know about. Good vid :)

[@cleversolarpower]

Thanks! It has to do with the European notation of the comma and decimals 😉

[@nutbastard]

@@cleversolarpowerSure, but in other parts of the video you use . instead of , for decimals. Pick one, us dumb americans will figure it out but maybe be consistent?

[@AnonJohn143]

@@cleversolarpower I didn't actually know that. Had assumed decimal notation was universal. As one would if just reading English texts. Tickled me when i then looked it up. Got me thinking about all the times I must have missed it in the past... ;) Brilliant, Thanks again.

[@laurentnyawakira2607]

I am happy about this video, if someone knows better, he (she) can advise me. I want to move to an off grid area and want to use all the home appliances + 2 freezers. Do you think a 10kw solar set can help? Kindly advise. Thanks

[@verygoodboy5724]

I don’t own a house nor do I have any money but I love solar system videos and construction of dream house videos 😢 but I believe I will get there

[@cleversolarpower]

You can start with a backup system for your fridge.

[@geoffreykaila]

When using Lead-Acid batteries, how do you make sure that you do not go beyond the set 50% maximum depth of discharge (DoD)?

[@cleversolarpower]

A low voltage disconnect, or visually with a battery shunt.

[@dieuvitsolar]

I love your presentation, thank you. Please may i know which app i can use to make presentation so i can use it for my solar adverts for clients.

[@cleversolarpower]

I use videoscribe

[@nothingpromised2569]

i have 990w of solar on my van and run a full size 120v fridge full time and with 300ah of 12v i can also run a microwave or air frier

[@SaltyFlatEarth]

What would 1 of those tiny hotel refrigerators be?! Great info.

[@cleversolarpower]

I would expect 50W*8h=400Wh daily.

[@maandhis-maadaysi]

SIZING THE BATTERY how i can calculate if get 7days full sun

[@klmkt4339]

Inverter consumption is a new concept I learnt

[@cleversolarpower]

Most people forget this, but it's very important to add if you don't turn it off.

[@owolabiadeteye5919]

You are a blessing to humanity, well explained sir. Pls which of the watt rating below can i used to size the inverter, battery and solar panel of my freezer , rated: Watt/rated corrent: 100W/1.75A Energy consumption: 1.0kwh/24hr from the name plate I am confused in watt- hr/day i should use

[@cleversolarpower]

My pleasure! You already answered your own question. You need 1,000Wh per day.

[@shachar2]

Can you use a smaller system based on a best case scenario then use a smart controller to switch to the electrical grid when you don't have power? Or is this not allowed by the electrical companies?

[@dlarge6502]

Not allowed in the UK. If the mains power gets disconnected in the UK, your panels are as well.

[@shachar2]

@@dlarge6502 You can't connect both the solar & the mains to some 'smart switch' that will feed the refrigerator & switch between them instead of doing it manually?

[@isaactuanpoh4487]

Hi senior technician, I have a solar panel with one 200Ah battery and one 24to 12 volt converter. Is it safe to use the converter with out a charge controller?

[@VivianBullard]

What is the price of 4 panels and the conveyor and the lithium battery

[@cleversolarpower]

That depends where you are located.

[@KGopidas]

Informstive, buht the point rem a ins rhat if attempting an implementation why not realise entire potential?. If we install A battery snd connect yhe fridge yhrough ig, ee improve power factor snd therefore consume less?

[@cleversolarpower]

If you fix the power factor to 1, then yes.

[@ObengJames-w7s]

Can I use modified sine wave inverter for my pc😢

[@cleversolarpower]

No

[@liveuk]

Use a 12 or 24 volt free and leave out the inverter. These are available for campers and trucks.

[@forgottentechnology]

By having an secondary frig during colds months in a unheated area you can reduce the overall cost of the system! I use this system 5 months of the year!

[@amitaimedan]

48V are allso bike battaries. It can be used as a backup?!

[@cleversolarpower]

Sure, if they are lifepo4. Otherwise you need to adjust charging voltages in the charge controller.

[@andymartinez767]

So that means you would need 3, 440w solar panels. But i didn't see how the battery gets charged? Has the inverter a battery chsrging capability or does the solar panels incorporate a battery charging system? Also if using 48v system, dont follow where the battery charger is installed

[@cleversolarpower]

That's in other videos. I answer one question at a time to keep it relevant 🙏

[@tzachus]

dear sir love your vidio but were is the vidio how mach frige power consamption ? can you put the link ?

[@cleversolarpower]

Here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIrLg2qFpcd3edE