Can sun rays power your fridge? They sure can. And it doesn’t require residential roof panels to do it. There are more convenient alternatives. Your refrigerator requires uninterrupted electricity to keep food from spoiling. That's a real challenge especially if you're off grid, or there's an outage in your area.
That is why it makes sense to invest in solar equipment that can see you through in the event of an outage. And to save on energy bills. But how do you do that? This guide will show you exactly how to make your refrigerator green.
Benefits of Using Solar to Power Your Refrigerators
Before you do anything, it's always best to figure out your "why." So before we get into the details of making your fridge green, let's look at the advantages for doing so.
Electric Bill Savings
By installing a portable solar panel on your refrigerator, you can significantly reduce how much electricity it uses by powering it with free solar energy. This will also help reduce your electricity bill and make you more conscious of how much energy you use in the future.
Environment-Friendly
By making your refrigerator green with portable solar panels, you are helping the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions into our air and reducing carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. By using free renewable energy instead of fossil fuels, you are also helping slow down global warming and help prevent climate change from getting worse than it already is today.
Convenience
Portable solar panels do not need special skills or knowledge to install them either; anyone can do it quickly with minimal effort. They also do not require any maintenance or installation costs, so that they can be installed in just a few minutes without any hassle.
Affordability
Portable solar panels are less expensive than other energy generation and storage methods available today, such as diesel generators or batteries, which require regular maintenance and replacement costs over time.
Moreover, portable solar panels are less expensive than roof-mounted solar panels. Roof-mounted systems tend to cost more because they require more parts, a structure that can support them, such as a house or shed, and labor to install them properly. Portable solar panels are much lighter and easier to move around than roof-mounted systems, so they are cheaper in this respect too.
Variety
Portable solar panels come in different sizes and shapes so that they can be easily installed on any size and type of refrigerator. The panels can be folded up when not in use, which makes them easy to store and transport. The panels can also be connected directly to the fridge or other devices if you want more power than what is provided by one panel.
Primary Types of Portable Solar Panels for Different Refrigerators
The two main types of portable solar panels are rollable and foldable. Each type has its benefits and drawbacks, so it is crucial to understand what they can do before making a purchase.
Rollable Solar Panels: Best for Small Refrigerators
Rollable solar panels are the most popular choice for people looking for portable solar panels. They are lightweight and easy to carry around, which makes them perfect for use with small refrigerators or other devices that do not require a lot of power.
Foldable Solar Panels: Best for Large Refrigerators
Foldable solar panels are similar to rollable ones in that they are easy to transport and install. However, they offer more power than rollable models due to their larger surface area and fold-out legs that allow them to stand up on their own when not in use, unlike rollable. These features make them ideal for larger appliances like fridges and freezers but too bulky for smaller devices like laptops or phones.
Choosing the Right Wattage of Portable Solar Panel for a Small Refrigerator
To use a small refrigerator with a solar panel, it is essential to know the average daily electricity consumption. This will help you determine how much power you need from your portable solar panel.
A small refrigerator's average daily power consumption is around 2-3 kWh per day. This can vary depending on how often you open and close the refrigerator door. If you are using a refrigerator with a capacity of less than 20 cubic feet and if it has an energy star rating, then the power consumption will be less than 2 kWh per day.
For example, A 2 kW portable solar panel can charge a 12-volt battery at around eight amps per hour (8 Ah), while a 3 Kw portable solar panel can charge at approximately 10 Amps per hour (10 Ah).
Making Your Refrigerator Green: Requirement and Procedure
The essential requirement for installing a portable solar panel is that there should be enough sunlight and space around it. If there is plenty of sun reaching the area where you have placed the panel, it will run well all day long and into the nighttime hours. Setting it where there is not much sun available may affect how well your portable solar panel powers your fridge. You will also want to make sure that it is well-ventilated and that there are no obstructions in front of it.
Secondly, you will need to connect your portable solar panels to an inverter. An inverter will convert DC power into AC power, which most appliances use to run. The inverter must be waterproof because this will help ensure that it does not get damaged when it rains or if water collects around the refrigerator during a storm or other weather event. This is also important because it will help protect against any electrical shock that might occur if water gets inside the inverter and causes an electrical short.
Thirdly, you will need to wire up your portable solar panels so they can connect directly with your battery bank without any voltage drops. This means using thick gauge wire so there are no voltage drops along its length and making sure there are no kinks or sharp bends in the cable, which could cause resistance loss over time due to heat build-up.
Next, you will need to ensure that your solar panels are correctly grounded and connected to a circuit breaker or fuse of some sort in case of a short circuit or any other electrical fault.
Finally, most portable solar panels come with their charge controller, which regulates the amount of current going from the panel into the battery bank. It is essential that this charge controller is set up correctly so that it does not overcharge your batteries or undercharge them by too much either.
Moreover, you can monitor how much power it is generating and how much power it is using, and therefore how much power remains. For this, you will need a monitoring device such as an ammeter or voltmeter attached to one of the batteries or charger. This will allow you to check on how well your system is performing throughout its lifespan and also allow you to troubleshoot any problems that may occur down the line.
In the end, small steps go a long way when trying to make your home more environmentally friendly. Solar panels are complex and challenging to manage when scaled up, but portable solar panels such as these can be ready in minutes and leave their mark on the environment without disrupting everyday life.
Are you ready to make your refrigerator green?
If you have decided to save money and do your part to help the environment, try Bluetti's portable solar panels out. They take up little to no space and can deliver enough energy to fully power most refrigerators. Check out our website and feel free to contact support if you have any questions.
