Can a 100-watt Solar Panel Run a TV?

Last Updated: March 3, 2023

Curious to know can a 100-watt solar panel run a Tv and if yes, for how long will it run a Tv.

In general, a 100-watt solar panel can run up to 60-inch LED Tv (during peak sun hours) without battery storage backup. But if you store the total production of a 100-watt solar panel in a battery bank then yes you can run any size or type of Tv.

To better understand this let’s calculate how much power output you can expect from a 100-watt solar panel according to your geographic location

And also i’ll discuss how you can calculate how long a 100w solar panel runs a TV and what other electronics you’d need to run a TV on solar power

How Much Power Does a 100-watt Solar Panel Produce?

A 100W solar panel will produce about 80 watts of power output in peak sun hours.

What is Peak Sun Hour: when the sunlight intensity is equal to 1000 watts per meter square (1kW/m²)

Because the solar panel are designed to produce their rated power under standard test conditions (inc. 1kW/m² of solar irradiations, no wind, 25^oC cell temperature)

So in the real world on average you’d receive about 80% of power output during peak sun hours.

To find the number of peak sun hours in a day your location receives Click here. Enter your city and hit enter.

Here’s how to find peak sunlight hours in your area.

Global Horizontal Irradiation (GNI) will be the average sun peak hours your location receives per day (based on annual data).

This number will be higher in summer and lower in winter. And also this is based on the total amount of solar radiation your location will receive (eg, in my case 5.1kW/meter²)

So i would have to place my solar panel all day long under the sun to get these peak sun hours.

If you want to squeeze the most out of your solar panel within a few hours. Place your solar panels under the sunlight during noon and afternoon time

This way you can utilize about 80% of per day’s solar radiation. use my below calculator to find out the power output of your solar panel and also I have explained the factor which will cause power losses and how you can reduce them.

How many Amps does a 100-watt solar panel produce?

Amps = Watts/volts

A 12v 100W solar panel will produce about 18 volts and 5.5 amps under ideal conditions (STC)

To charge a 12v battery you’d need a charge controller which will reduce the voltage coming from the solar panel to 13-14 volts (depending upon the battery’s state of charge)

With a 100W solar panel, you’d need a 10A charge controller. I would recommend this Renogy 10A charge controller

DC vs AC output

Solar panels produce power in DC (Direct Current) but most of the Tv require AC (alternating current)

So to convert DC into AC there will be some power losses, because of an inverter’s inefficiency rate. Which are about 90% efficient

which means there will be a 10% power loss when converting DC into AC to run your Tv.

Power Output: Final Calculation

I’ll take my city’s peak sun hours as an example (5.1), and a 90% efficient inverter

Multiply The solar panel wattage by 0.8 (solar inefficiency, which you’ll face in real-world)

100*0.8 = 80 watts

Multiply the value by the number of peak sun hours

80*5.1 = 410Wh (DC)

Multiply the value by 0.9 (to converter DC into AC)

410*0.9 = 370Wh (AC)

You’d receive about 80 watts of DC and 70 watts of AC power output from a 100W solar panel during peak sun hours, and 400 watt-hours of DC or 360 watt-hours of AC total energy output per day (considering 5 hours of peak sunlight)

How many watts to run a TV?

TV size (inches)	TV type	Power Consumption (watts)
18-inch	LED	18-22 W
	LCD	25-32 W
	Plasma	50-75 W
24-inch	LED	24-28 W
	LCD	36-44 W
	Plasma	75-95 W
32-inch	LED	35-40 W
	LCD	50-60 W
	Plasma	100-130 W
40-inch	LED	40-50 W
	LCD	60-70 W
	Plasma	120-160 W
50-inch	LED	50-60 W
	LCD	75-90 W
	Plasma	150-200 W
60-inch	LED	60-75 W
	LCD	90-110 W
	Plasma	200-250 W

^{_{how much power does a tv use? chart}}

Note: The above chart is just an example of the average watts consumption of many brands’ televisions available in the market.

To check the most accurate value, read the specs sheet (usually located on the back side of a Tv).

Rule Of Thumb!

If you’re running a Tv based on the solar panel’s output (without battery backup storage) then the TV input wattage shouldn’t be higher than the AC output of your solar panel

And you can achieve this only on a sunny day. But the best way to run your Tv on a solar panel would be to first of all store some power in the battery and then connect the inverter with the battery and then Tv with an inverter.

Related Post: What Size Inverter Do I Need To Run A Tv?

How Many Hours Can a 100w Solar Panel Run TV?

A 100-watt solar panel can produce enough power to run a 32-inch LED Tv for about 9 hours.

Use this formula to calculate how long will a 100w solar panel run a Tv

Solar panel total AC output / Tv power consumption

100W solar panel setup to run TV, what’s Needed?

To run a Tv on solar power you’d

Solar panel
Charge controller
Battery bank
Inverter

In this case, a 100-watt solar panel, 10A charge controller, 12v 50Ah battery, and a 500-watt pure sine wave inverter

Or you can simply buy a portable solar generator. Which is all in one package (built-in charge controller, battery bank, & inverter)

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Chris Tsitouris

Chris Tsitouris is a renewable energy professional with 10+ years of experience as Director of Engineering at Solar Spectrum, previously working as Project Manager at SunPower and Energy Analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. As a thought leader, Chris has authored numerous articles and research papers.