Can you power a refrigerator with a solar panel?

Can you power a refrigerator with a solar panel?

A refrigerator is one of the essential household appliances. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most costly. Running a regular family-sized fridge with a top freezer can add approximately $8.67 to your monthly electric bill. Worse, if you have an older refrigerator, the cost can go up to $21.67 a month.

This is why most households look for ways to power their refrigerator without breaking the bank. They’re looking for alternative power sources such as solar power. However, can you power a refrigerator with a solar panel? If yes, how?

Luckily, yes! You can power a refrigerator with solar power. However, it’s a lot more complicated than powering a couple of light bulbs in your house.

The thing about refrigerators and other temperature-related appliances like your air conditioner and heater is that they have compressors with electric motors. The electric motor of a refrigerator needs 2000 watts-hours per day. 

Suppose that a standard 100 watts solar panel can produce 400 watts-hours energy per day. This means that you are still short of 1600 watts-hours per day to run your refrigerator.

You can compensate for the shortage by getting more than 100 watts of solar power. This is easier said than done as a 100 watts solar panel has the dimension of 47 x 21.3 x 1.4 inches which can be pretty hard to install, not to mention the space that you’ll need.

Furthermore, the fact remains that the energy produced by solar panels is always relative to the weather. Even though you have five solar panels set up, it can’t generate your goal of 2000 watts-hours per day if it’s a cloudy day.

This is why the best way to power a refrigerator through solar panels is by using a battery. 

A regular solar power battery for a home can store up to 6000 watts-hours per day. Some can even go up to 10,000 watts-hours per day.

This way, you can store the electric energy from your solar panels and use it for emergency purposes. Or, when you have reached ideal electric power, you can unplug your refrigerator and use the solar battery instead.