Estimate RV solar panel watts, battery bank size, charge controller amps, inverter size, and off-grid runtime from daily appliance use, sun hours, battery voltage, depth of discharge, and system losses. This calculator is useful for RVs, camper vans, travel trailers, truck campers, boondocking, and off-grid camping.
Daily energy use:
The calculator starts with your daily watt-hour use and adjusts for solar system losses.
Solar panel size:
Daily watt-hours are divided by peak sun hours and system efficiency to estimate solar array watts.
Battery and controller sizing:
The calculator estimates battery amp-hours, usable storage, charge controller amps, number of panels, inverter size, and off-grid runtime.
An RV solar calculator helps size an off-grid power system before buying panels, batteries, charge controllers, inverters, and wiring.
Real output depends on season, location, shade, roof angle, panel temperature, wiring, controller efficiency, battery temperature, and how often high-load appliances run.
This calculator uses the basic RV solar sizing formula:
Solar Watts Needed = Daily Watt-Hours ÷ Peak Sun Hours ÷ System Efficiency
It depends on daily watt-hour use and sun hours. Light use may need only a few hundred watts, while full-time boondocking can need 800 watts or more.
Battery size depends on daily energy use, desired backup days, battery voltage, and usable depth of discharge. Lithium batteries usually provide more usable capacity than lead acid.
It can, but air conditioning needs a large battery bank, large inverter, high solar wattage, and careful load planning. Many small RV solar setups cannot run AC for long.
MPPT is usually better for larger RV solar systems because it can convert panel voltage more efficiently and improve charging in varied conditions.