Will a fridge run off a 100 watt solar panel?

Will a 100 watt solar panel run a fridge and for how long? Its time to find out! Check out everything you need to install this solar system below:
Solar panel: amzn.to/2S2MujL
Charge Controller: amzn.to/3noQKWB
Inverter: amzn.to/3yjbAM0
Wire with MC4 Connectors: amzn.to/3wgVosY
Marine grade wire: amzn.to/3uZQgJx
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DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and helps me to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for your support!

[@fabioalmeida9281]

Great video bro! Quick question i have a 100h lithium battery and 100w solar panel as well but by the time i wake up in the morning my batteries are completely drained from using the fridge, and my fridge is on eco mode as well. Am i doing something wrong?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

Could be a few things going on. Could be the type of fridge, the solar panel may not be putting out optimal power. I'd break it down and test each component to see what your power numbers are for each component to ensure they are operating as they should.

[@adamconnolly7478]

Just put a 100W lensun panel on my hood, and its running an Engel 45L fridge at 4degc 24/7 365! I do drive my car daily for approx 25 min

[@EmbarkWithMark]

It's amazing what we can do with just a little extra power from something as simple as a solar panel. It's changed the way we think about our power situation. It's awesome to hear that your solution is working just as well as ours is!

[@lissaestes7017]

Hey, Mark! I'm a great-grandmother in my late 70's. I still like to travel and camp. I sleep in my minivan. I watched probably hundreds of KZbin videos and finally bought a fridge. Usually I camp with power, but sometimes I'm in a place with no shore power. So I bought a 100 watt solar panel. I also got several power stations. I tried charging the power stations with the solar panel and running the fridge. I was switching the power stations all day and ending up charging one in the house to power the fridge overnight. Then I found your video. Angels were singing! I had a deep cycle battery left over from my last camper that I had kept on a trickle charger, and an MPPT 30 amp charge controller. I also had a 12 volt outlet with ring terminals. I ordered the 10 gauge wire with the MC4 connectors on one end and bare wire on the other. Yesterday I hooked up my system just as you outlined, except that I used a separate battery. I wrapped the solar cords in pipe insulation because I just have them dropping into my van tailgate. This morning my fridge was at 38 degrees and the battery was showing 12.2 volts! I'm so happy! I can't carry my fridge so it stays in the van all the time. Today I shopped and put my meat in the fridge! Happy day! And now I know I can go anywhere and keep my food cold. Many, many thanks!

[@EmbarkWithMark]

You are awesome! Love hearing stories like this of people getting out however they can. I’m super happy you found the video helpful and that the setup is working well for you. What a great story, thank you for sharing. Sometimes simpler is better, and in your case a lot more affordable. I read so many forums of people claiming a 100 watt panel can’t keep up with a these DC fridges. But there statements don’t add up when math is put into the equation. Anyway, thank you for watching and really happy to hear you found value in this video. Happy and safe travels!

[@patyp.7401]

Do you have a video on how you did the actual setup? I would like to run my fridge the same way but I’m not sure how you connected everything and with battery you used

[@EmbarkWithMark]

Hmm, let me take a look. If not, I’ll make one as I am changing the solar panel mount anyway.

[@randallgd]

New Subscriber needing some advice Please! I just ordered a Vevor 12V, 53qt dual zone car fridge and a Acopower 100W 12V monocrystalline solar panel that will installed on top of our Suburban. That’s all the room on top cause of the roof cargo boxes. Using Bluetti EB55. Will this be enough solar for it keep up running that fridge?(nothing else). Should I add a narrow flexible solar panel (say 50watt) on one my cargo boxes? Problem is I hear nothing but bad about those. Thank for any insight or ideas!

[@EmbarkWithMark]

Hey thank you for subscribing! Will the EB55 also be charging off the vehicle when it's running?

[@PreparedCitizenSolutions]

Would you by chance know what the rated power of your fridge was in watts?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

I don’t know it watts. According to ARB the fridge draws .85 amps per hour on average.

[@crystalw8050]

Hey! Great video and love your channel. And I think it’s awesome you have the patience to answer so many peoples questions :) I was just curious - do you have to make sure the battery doesn’t “overcharge?” For some reason I thought you had to be careful with that, but maybe it was just AGM? I read your replies and you said you had a lead acid battery at first and then an AGM. I’ve been going back and forth about upgrading from lead acid to AGM but I really don’t want to have to worry about overcharging it with solar. Thoughts? 😊

[@EmbarkWithMark]

Glad you enjoy the the channel, it really means a lot. Thank you!! So with solar your going to use a charge controller and the controller will prevent the battery from being overcharged regardless if you have AGM or lead acid. If your picking one battery and using solar with it. Go AGM. I hope that helps you out!

[@crystalw8050]

@@EmbarkWithMark ohhh yes ok! Thank you so much 🙏

[@EmbarkWithMark]

@@crystalw8050 You are very welcome!

[@careybrown3776]

What amp hour battery do you have and is it lithium? Also, what’s the wattage on the fridge?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

Standard group 34 car battery. I don’t know the official wattage rating. But it ARV rated the fridge at .85 ah/hr draw. But if we multiply that by 12 we get around 10 watts. That’s average draw so I’m going to assume the fridge is some where around 60 watts.

[@Bob-db4wn]

Straight forward, thx dude!

[@EmbarkWithMark]

Happy to hear you got something from the video!

[@Vincegould]

What fridge?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

ARB 50Qt

[@Trail_Kings_Offroad]

Awesome video! So if I’m correct you just wired your solar panel straight to your charge controller and then from your charge controller straight to the regular car battery? And then from there had the fridge plugged into the cars 12v outlet and just ran it like that?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

That’s it! I did run a dedicated 12v outlet from the cars battery to the fridge. Glad you liked the video! Thank you!

[@Trail_Kings_Offroad]

@@EmbarkWithMark ok that’s what I was wanting to do with my set up I have a 100w panel that my plan would be to connect to the charge controller and then from there go straight to my truck battery and then from there run a dedicated 12v socket for the fridge. My only thing is that I don’t have an AGM battery. Do you think by using just a standard lead acid battery would work since it will be always connected to my solar?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

Definitely! I had to switch out my AGM for a lead acid in the Jeep. Performance is very good with a solar panel!

[@Trail_Kings_Offroad]

@@EmbarkWithMark hold up wait a minute lol so you’re saying you are using this same set up WITHOUT An AGM deep cycle and you haven’t had any issues?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

@@Trail_Kings_Offroad exactly! The 100 watt solar panel is more then enough to keep up with the fridge in our setup.

[@cooperdog9956]

Thank you for the test!!!

[@EmbarkWithMark]

You are welcome!

[@maddiecricket8569]

What type of fridge is this that you are testing?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

It’s a 50qt ARB fridge.

[@kittykat67891]

What size inverter are you using

[@EmbarkWithMark]

The inverter is 800 watts.

[@redwood1957]

What battery do you have

[@EmbarkWithMark]

In this video, I was using a group 34 (standard Jeep TJ battery size) AGM from O'reilys.

[@WilliamOwens1]

That's neat that you can maintain it when you aren't opening it 6 times a day. Nice to have a cold drink if you been hiking or kayaking when you get back. Be interesting to see how many watts it would take to maintain the battery when you are opening it frequently. It won't run all the time even if you're opening it up. When it is running you still have a hundred Watt stop loss. 300 maybe?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

Runs fine even when opening and closing. As do we frequently when exploring/camping. In fact we’ve run this fridge in the Jeep with a single battery setup without solar for about 5 years. The solar is a very welcomed addition though and ensures we can sit in place longer. Of course a lot of this is dependent upon your power needs. The Jeep and our camp setup in it has a pretty low power requirement.

[@BrianJohnson-ny9zd]

Thank you! How many batteries and what kind?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

My Jeep has one battery. It’s a standard AGM from an auto parts store.

[@BrianJohnson-ny9zd]

@@EmbarkWithMark do you have a inverter or anything else? Like most solar panels that are used have a reader?

[@BrianJohnson-ny9zd]

Also what size is the battery?

[@EmbarkWithMark]

@@BrianJohnson-ny9zd I do have an inverter. The charge controller shows voltages and charge rates. The battery is stock size for a TJ group 34 I believe.

[@BrianJohnson-ny9zd]

@@EmbarkWithMark what size inverter? And thank you.

[@ronstachewicz4265]

Peaked my curiosity. Thanks for posting the links

[@EmbarkWithMark]

You are welcome!

[@jonathanoconnor3836]

You've really taken a turn for the worse.

[@lowemountainadventures]

Says the guy with one subscriber...