When you are using your refrigerator, have you ever wondered approximately how many solar panels your refrigerator uses. Perhaps you have thought about it, but you may have made a rough estimate and not done an accurate calculation. In this article, we will take you through exactly how many solar panels you need for a refrigerator.
On average, roughly a refrigerator needs 2 to 6 units 200W solar panels to power it, but this actual number we are going to decide based on the actual size and type of the refrigerator, but if you want to know specifically how many solar panels you need for your refrigerator we will introduce you to the specific algorithm.
For you to know how many solar panels you need for your refrigerator, you first need to know the power of your refrigerator, usually they will be found on the manufacturer’s nameplate.
Small refrigerators usually have a wattage of 70W to 90W.
Medium-sized refrigerators are usually 90W to 120W.
Large refrigerators usually have a wattage of 150W to 200W.
Once we know the power of our refrigerator we can calculate the energy consumption of the refrigerator in a day. The calculation formula is as follows.
Energy consumption = power (W) * length of use (h)
For example, you have a 100W refrigerator and you use it for 24h per day, then the energy consumption of the refrigerator per day is 100W*24h=2400Wh (2.4KWh)
Peak sunshine hours refers to the energy received by the sun in one hour, the peak sunshine hours in different areas will be different. For example. Peak sunshine duration in the Middle East is about 4.9h, peak sunshine duration in Australia is about 8h, and peak sunshine duration in the western U.S. is about 8h. You can check the peak sunshine duration of specific regions on the Internet.
https://globalsolaratlas.info/
All you need to know is the wattage of your solar panels, which can be calculated using the following formula
Daily Energy Yield (Wh) = Solar Panel Wattage * Daily Peak Sunshine Hours
If the daily peak sunshine duration in your area is 5h, and the wattage of your solar panel is 200W, then the daily energy yield is 200W*5h=1000Wh.
For solar energy systems, there will be some loss in the process of energy transfer. Generally speaking, the transfer efficiency of the grid-connected system is over 90%, and the transfer efficiency of the off-grid and hybrid system is about 80%.
Final daily energy production = daily energy production * transfer efficiency of the corresponding system
If you have an off-grid solar system, the final daily energy yield is 1000Wh * 80% = 800Wh.
After the above series of calculations, we can now calculate how many solar panels are needed for a refrigerator, and you need to use the following equation
Number of solar panels = energy consumption / final daily energy production
Using the same data as above, the number of solar panels is 2400KWh/800Wh=3.
After a series of calculations, we can see that a refrigerator with a power of 200W requires 3 solar panels with a power of 200W in an area with 5h of peak daily sunshine.
Although the process of calculating exactly how many solar panels you need for a refrigerator is a bit tricky, it’s important to do so by taking the time to do the math. You can get an idea of the approximate amount of electricity you use each day so that you can save on your monthly electricity bill.
