How to Hook Up Solar Panels to RV Batteries

Using solar power for RVs is a great way to provide energy independence to your already independent and self-sufficient lifestyle. You’ll save money on gas and electricity by producing your own. Plus, you’ll have the bonus of contributing to a cleaner energy source. Before you begin grabbing the first kit you see on the shelf, make sure you do your research and follow these steps.

Step 1: Assess Your Energy Needs

Assessing your energy needs is important before you start purchasing the latest solar system. Doing so allows you to understand how much power your entire system needs to develop so you can comfortably use your system without losing power.

Calculate Your Energy Consumption

To calculate your energy consumption, you must first identify the appliances you use daily. This will include everything from your refrigerator to the chargers you use for your phone or laptop. Having an estimate is more important than getting the exact number as long as you have a list of appliances you have.

There are a few methods where you can find the wattage of the appliances you have.

1. Plug the appliance into a wattage meter; this will produce an accurate estimate; however, if you don’t have a wattage meter, there are other methods.
2. Check the appliance as the wattage is usually placed in the bottom, or where other information is stored.
3. If your appliance doesn’t list the wattage, but it does list the amps and volts, you can multiply the two numbers together to receive the wattage it uses.
4. You can use an Appliance Energy Chartto estimate how much power your appliance uses.

Determine Solar Panel Requirements

Once you’ve found out how much energy you need to run your appliances, the next step is to figure out the requirements needed for your solar panels. Solar panels come in various sizes, styles, and energy specifications, so grabbing a random panel won’t offer the best results.

Determining your solar panel requirements is quite easy;, after determining your energy requirements, you can figure out exactly what you need out of your solar panels including:

• Wattage
• Type (rigid, portable, flexible)
• Length and width of the panel

Step 2: Gather Necessary Components

After finding out what you need, the next step is to gather all the necessary components included in your solar system. These items include the following.

• Solar Panels: Aside from the requirements as previously discussed, the two main types of solar panels are monocrystalline and polycrystalline. Polycrystalline has a lower upfront cost, but monocrystalline is more efficient and space-conscious.
• Charge Controller: They protect the battery from high voltages, overcharging, and overheating. There are two types; MPPTcontrollers convert any extra voltage to electricity; and PWM controllers cut the voltage down to the level of the battery.
• RV Batteries: The two most popular types of batteries are lead-acid and lithium. Both have their benefits and drawbacks depending on what you’re using them for, however, Sunrich Energy’s line of lithium batteries boast several protective features for every use.
• Mounting Hardware and Wiring: There are three methods to mounting your panels.
  1. Portable, which involves using portable panels that you can set on the ground
  2. Roof attachments, which means you will need either
     • Z-brackets to mount the panels on the roof
     • Tiltable mounting frames to adjust the panels on the RV
     • Flexible panels that you can glue to the sides and roof of the RV

Step 3: Ensure Compatibility and Prepare the RV

Once you have your components together, you need to ensure that your RV is solar-ready. This means getting all the necessary adapters and connectors together and making sure they can fit together and are long enough to reach one another. Usually, they’ll come with the components you already ordered, but you can purchase larger-size cables and connectors to ensure your components fit together.

When all is said and done, you can begin hooking up your solar panels with your RV. Although you can hire a professional to set it all up, it’s a fairly simple process that only requires a few steps.

1. Secure the panels onto the roof of your RV and cover them so no electricity is generated.

1. Connect the charge controller to the battery.
2. Connect the solar panels to the charge controller.
3. Turn on the system and begin charging your battery.

When hooking up your solar panels to your RV batteries, be sure that your RV is not connected to any power system. Although it may be different, you are still working with electricity and all safety precautions should be taken.