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Watt and amps Formula Rv solar power

Watts and Amps what does it mean, when trying to choose your Rv or Motorhome Solar Power requirements.  This will include what equipment you will need such as; equipment draw in amps and the watts over voltage conversions.  This simple formula is designed to help you gauge what power needs you require for you rvs system. 

Terms used:

Voltage – Weather you are running at 12/24 volt or 240 volt
Amps    - Current draw of the unit you are running per hr
Watts    – Watts used by your appliance or accessories

First and foremost you need to determine what you are going to run on your solar system. To do this you need to make a list of the equipment you’re wanting to run and what power type they are/or require (i.e. 12 volt or 240 volt).

 How to determine your Rv solar power needs,  here is some of my list to help you on your way.

LCD TV 23 inch.                                  12 volt
500 watt Pure Sinewave Inverter     12 volt
LED lights x 8                                      12 volt

Wayco Fridge freezer   12/24 volt/240 volt

You may have more on your list but that does not matter at all. This will allow you to safely choose how many batteries, solar panels you will require to run on your rv solar system. What you want to have in your motorhome is why we are all different, you can have what ever you want in your RV as long as you match the solar system output to the equipment you wish to run.

It is also best to over estimate the power usage of your system as degrading of amps can occur if you have long runs in the conduit (wires to and from the solar panels and your batteries). Simply just follow the formula and advice below and you wont have any worries.

You then have to find out how many watts each of the units will use:
 

For instant the Wayco fridge of mine uses 65 watts to run so all we need to do is divide our 65 watts by the voltage we want to use, which in this case is 12 volts and you get 5.4 amps per hour.

See the figure below:

65 watts
———-   =   5.4 Amps per Hr
 12 volts

If you are unable to use this formula it will take you to a Watts into Amps converter page. It is very simple to use, just add the voltage and the watts into the correct boxes and it will calculate the AMPS for you.

Heres the link to the inverter, http://www.supercircuits.com/resources/tools/Volts-Watts-Amps-Converter

* Special Note: I cant find what watts my unit uses?

No problem, if you cant find the watts perhaps the AMPS are already listed on the unit instead. If this fails do a search on the model number of the unit in your internet browser, most websites will give you the specs of the unit online.

Goodluck and I wish you all the best for your solar system designs.