Solar

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Hi Ray,

Yes, 110 Watts will do......... some of the time.
120W will do a little better and 160W better still.
It all depends on the weather. When it's hot the fridge will demand more power. And when it's overcast the solar will deliver less power. So it's all a bit of a gamble and how much you are prepared to supplement the solar by running the engine. Because there will be times, perhaps quite often, when your 110W solar, will simply not be enough.

110 W would be struggling.
I have the same setup running a 40 Ltr Engel and run a 160W solar on the canopy feeding 2x 110 A slimline batteries in the tub.
The best I can get on a 40 deg day and then an overcast next few days is 1, 1/2 day's running and then I need to do a recharge via the ute's alternator.
Last trip away I had a small Kickass drinks cooler as well and luckily it was fine every day, but as an extra power supply I cheated and used a 140W portable solar.

My advice is to use the biggest solar you can fit on the canopy and connect the second battery to the ute's alternator via the usual relay connections.

Ron

I have 2 x 160W panels to run our 60L Brass Monkey as freezer and 32L Waeco beer fridge.

I have set both up so if I have 240V available, all I do is run the cord out and the power supplies drop out the 12V.

I go caught in Queensland a few years back when I rain for three days solid and killed the battery hence the 240V setup.

Also, have a look at this thread from the other day - https://www.exploroz.com/forum/140769/solar-on-daul-cab

Ray,

In my ute canopy I have a 55 litre, unbranded Chinese thing that's been re-fitted with a Danfoss BD-35 compressor (60 watt). Had it for years, it won't die.

Fridge pulls about 5.5 amps on hi, 3.5 on low (eco mode). When driving I run it on hi and when camped up, on low. Fridge has an insulated jacket. The canopy is alloy, painted white, so as cool as possible and the fridge compartment is reasonably ventilated.

I have a 102Ah aux battery and 2 x 100W thin solar panels - light weight and fit in my storage system neatly.

In good sun one of those panels will maintain my fridge on a setting of 3 or 4 deg C provided I track the sun to get best output. I use two panels in poor sun or if I run the fridge as a freezer.

How long I can last really depends on the sun. Good sun, indefinitely until the beer/food run out.

Based on my experience, I think your 110watts will be ok in good conditions, but probably not enough as solar conditions deteriorate below optimum.

Agree with those above, I would be looking at the 160W min.

Hi Ray,

You did not say what amps your battery is suppling power to your fridge. A good rule of thumb is for every battery amp, double the watts in solar. In other words, for a 100 amp battery, you need 200 watts of Solar Capacity. The more solar watts, the better.

Macca.

Our 25 year old engel lives in the ute under a canopy and runs off the AUX battery. When driving I have a pressure hatch on the canopy that is kept open unless it is raining. I also have a roof rack that has a 200 watt panel attached that is plugged into the redarc dc to dc charger keeping the aux battery topped up. This also keeps some shade on the canopy and so far it has worked well.
If you can and have a canopy do the same.

hi
minimum 160w but 200watts is far better and will recharge way way better . Battery life and system performance will be better .
200 watts generates around 48ah in a 24hr period
160 watt generates around 38 ah in a 24 hr period
small fridge will use 20ah to 40ah depends on ambient and fridge or freezer use

A good charger would be a 25 amp MPPT dc2dc controller Projecta or Redarc

Ive got a 180 watt panel on the rack, shades the drivers side, keeps the battery full all the time, fridge is constantly on in the back....if i put it in the garage friday night, the battery is down to 12.4 by sunday arvo.