How Many Solar Panels for a Fridge?

Rule-of-thumb estimate using typical wattage and usage hours. Fine‑tune with our calculators.

A typical Fridge uses around 150 W. If you run it for 24 h/day, that’s roughly 3.6 kWh/day. With about 5 peak sun hours and a realistic 20% system derate, you’d need approximately 3 × 400 W panels (≈ 0.90 kW of array).

👉 Try the Panel Sizing Calculator to plug in your exact sun hours and system losses.

Check battery & charging time

• Battery Runtime Calculator — see how long a battery will run your Fridge.
• Charge Time Calculator — estimate how long your panels take to recharge.
• Inverter Size Calculator — make sure your inverter handles startup and continuous load.

Quick math

• Daily energy = watts × hours ÷ 1000 = 3.6 kWh
• Array kW ≈ daily kWh ÷ (PSH × (1 − derate)) = 0.90 kW
• 400W panel count ≈ array W ÷ 400 = 3

Tips

• Panels rarely output full nameplate — 70–80% in good sun is common.
• Cold panels perform better; heat and clouds reduce output.
• Angle panels toward the sun and keep them clean for best results.