Installing solar panels can potentially offset some if not all of your energy costs. Can solar panels be used to run a dishwasher too? If so, how many solar panels do you need to run a washer?
Read on for how many solar panels you need to power a dishwasher.
How Many Solar Panels Do You Need?
Yes, you can use a grid-tie solar PV system (a solar panel + grid-tie), or an off-grid solar system (solar panels, inverters, and battery) to run a dishwasher.
The solar panels you use for your dishwasher depend on:
- the power consumption (watts) of the dishwasher,
- how many hours of sunshine your location receives per day, and
- the estimated hours of usage of the dishwasher.
Using a dishwasher with an estimated power consumption of 900 watts (100 watts to run the motor and 800 watts for heating the water) that runs for approximately 1.5 hours in a location that receives about 4 hours of sunshine a day, you’ll probably need at least 600 watts of solar panels to run the dishwasher alone.
More panels if there are other appliances that’ll need to be powered. To generate this power, you can use 2 pcs of 300-watt solar panels, 3 pcs of 200-watt solar panels, or about 6 pcs of 100-watt solar panels.
What Size of Battery?
As an example, to run one cycle with the dishwasher above (900 watts power consumption), if using an off-grid solar system, you’ll need at least one 400 Ah AGM or 200 Ah LiFePO4 of battery capacity at 12V.
What Inverter and Charge Controller to Use?
In addition to the 600 watts of Solar panels and 400 Ah AGM battery bank, you’ll need a 60 amp charge controller and at least a pure sine wave inverter of at least 1,500 watts.
Should you do it? Is it Worth it?
If you have access to the grid, it’s not worth it in my opinion.
The investment in such a system can set you back by at least USD 1,500 (current market prices) for an off-grid solar system.
Assuming an annual electricity consumption of 230kWh for the dishwasher and a tariff of 12 cents per kWh, the savings from using solar amount to USD 27.
The payback period with an off-grid solar system is about 55 years! It is only worthwhile considering a grid-tie solar system or if there are subsidies available.
Closing Thoughts
Yes, you can use solar to run a dishwasher. The actual size of the system depends largely on the power consumption (watts) of the dishwasher, how many hours of sunshine your location receives per day, and the estimated hours of usage of the dishwasher.
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