What can a 50 Watt solar panel run? Unfortunately, if you try to find the answer about the power production of a 50W solar panel or the batteries it can charge, you’ll get confused by the various opinions. If you’re planning to get one for your home and have the same question, you’ve come to the right place. This article will explain the power a 50W solar panel can produce, the appliances it can run, and everything you need to know before installing it!
The use of solar panels, photovoltaic or thermal, is significantly increased in recent years to promote renewable energies. More and more individuals are inclined to install solar panels in their homes, either as green energy activists or just in vogue, for electricity or heat supply. This raises more concerns among consumers about the power production possibilities of different solar panel kits. For household use, 50 Watt Solar Panels are very popular among consumers, which can be installed individually to run small appliances or combined with others for more power generation.
Let’s discuss how it works!
How a Solar Panel Works?
The one criterion that determines the possibilities of a solar panel kit is its power. The more power it has, the more power supply possibilities it offers. The power supply of a 50W panel won’t be the same as a stand-alone kit of 100 W. If you combine two 50W solar panels, you’ll get more power supply. It operates in the following way:
- The panel transforms the solar radiation into DC (Direct Current), thus, charging one or more batteries depending on the Watts.
- The battery can run appliances with accumulated energy at any desired time of the day.
- The regulator ensures the system management of the solar panel.
Which Battery to Use for a 50 Watt Solar Panel?
Generally, a 50W panel supplies low-consumption devices, and the battery used is 12V. 50W panels are not heavy but provide plenty of power depending on the different factors such as the location, the tilt of the panel and the Sun hours. If you want to run a small appliance, a single panel would be enough. But, you can also combine two or more 50W solar panels for more energy generation and run more appliances. To be precise, a single 50W solar panel can charge a 12V battery in six hours if the weather conditions are ideal and can produce up to 250 watt-hours. To understand what watt-hours is, remember that capacity of a solar battery is measured in amps. Multiply the amps by the voltage to determine their watt-hours.
However, some manufacturers claim that a 50W solar panel can produce up to 350 watt-hours. Thus, the biggest battery a 50W solar panel can charge is 25ah in a day in the best case. It cannot charge a higher-capacity battery. You need a 100W solar panel or buy two 50W panels and combine them for more energy production.
Based on the above description, some good battery choices for a 50W solar panel can include Weize 12V 20AH Lead Acid Battery, TalentCell 2000 cycles rechargeable 12V 24Ah 288Wh lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) deep cycle battery and Mighty Max Battery ML22-12 – 12V 22AH, as they work with different solar panels. Thus, a Mighty Max 12V 22AH battery would produce 264 watt-hours (12x 22= 264).
Thus, the two things you must consider are the solar panel watts and your battery capacity. Now, let’s move on to the appliances a 50W panel can run!
What can a 50 Watt Solar Panel Run?
With a 50W solar panel, you run:
- LED lights
- TV
- DC motors
- charge batteries
- mobile phones, among others
Let’s take the example of the LED bulbs. They come in different wattages, for example, 5W, 7W, 12W, 15W, etc. Depending on their wattage, a 50W solar panel can run them for different durations. For example, a 50W solar panel can run three 3W LED bulbs for 12 to 13 hours a day. The same goes for other devices. You can combine two 50W solar panels to get 100W solar capacity if you need more power supply. However, a single 50W panel can run a small appliance for few hours if the produced energy is stored in the battery all day, accumulating hundreds of watt-hours.
A DC charge controller charges the battery and an inventor converts it into AC since most appliances are AC, not DC. A big charge controller is required for more solar power and bigger batteries. It all depends on your requirement.
Below is a list of some of the best 50W solar panels you can choose from:
- Renogy 50 Watt Portable Solar Panel, Foldable E.Flex Charger comes with a switchable DC port, and you can use it to run LED bulbs, TV, charge smartphones, laptops, and tablets.
- Suner Power 50 Watt solar panel kit comes with a waterproof charge controller. It charges a 12V battery to run off-grid applications such as cabin, gate opener, or to charge batteries of car, trailer, camper, lawnmowers, RV, etc.
- SOLPERK 50W/12V Solar Panel Kit. This kit also comes with a waterproof charge controller and can run all the devices mentioned above.
All the above solar panels come with adjustable mounting brackets for different angle adjustments and are easy to install.
Our Final Thoughts
We hope this information must have answered the question, what can a 50 Watt solar panel run? To determine how many 50W solar panels you need, you must first determine your energy requirement and total consumption.
How many bulbs or fans do you want to run, or the batteries do you want to charge? And for how long? Based on this calculation, you can buy a solar panel with the right power. These calculations can help you understand the exact possibilities that a solar panel can offer.
