How many watt-hours do I need for an RV weekend?

Add the watt-hours each device uses per day, multiply by the number of nights, then subtract the recharge you can actually credit each day. Divide the remainder by 0.765 to account for inverter losses and a retained reserve. A typical no-air-conditioning weekend lands between 600 and 1,200 Wh per night, but the figure that matters is the one you declare for your own loads.

Can a solar generator run an RV air conditioner?

Only with a declared running wattage and a declared startup surge, and usually only with a soft start and a large battery. Without those declared figures the check abstains: a roof air conditioner can draw two to three times its running watts for a fraction of a second, and no capacity number predicts that.

What does a TT-30 pedestal actually allow?

120 V times 30 A is 3,600 W of nameplate capacity. We plan against 2,880 W as a conservative ceiling, which is a planning figure and not an electrical code limit. Anything above that is an architecture question, not a battery question.

Why do you sometimes refuse to recommend anything?

Because a missing fact is not a small fact. If startup surge is undeclared, if the daily recharge loop stays open, or if the trip needs an installed system, we say so and name the measurement to take. Naming a product on top of an unknown would be a guess wearing a number.

Is solar or an alternator the better recharge path?

Whichever one you can actually credit. Solar depends on panel area, season and shade; alternator charging depends on drive time and the charger you have. The check credits only the recharge you declare, so both paths are compared on the same daily watt-hour basis.

Free 2-minute RV power check

Will your RV power setup last the whole trip?

Enter your nights, must-run loads and expected recharge. Get the minimum usable capacity, daily recharge gap and startup-power check.

Check my RV trip — about 2 minutes

Estimates accepted · No email · No brand ranking

One night off-grid, drawn: loads, stored energy, recharge, verdict

What the free check tells you

01Minimum usable capacityThe watt-hours you actually need after inverter losses and a retained reserve — not a nameplate number.
02Daily recharge gapWhether the solar or alternator you declare closes each day, or leaves the loop open.
03Startup-power checkWhether air conditioning or another surge load can actually start — or stays unproven.
04Simplest architectureThe plainest setup that works, or the one fact to measure before anything can be recommended.

The three forms your result can take

The minimum setup that closes the trip
When your declared loads, nights and recharge are enough to be sized, the check states the smallest usable capacity and the architecture class that closes the trip — and names the exact units that pass it.
Why battery-only does not close it
When the daily loop does not come back — no alternator, no solar, no shore power — more capacity only delays the failure. The check says so, and says how much recharge per day would change the answer.
The one missing measurement
When a startup surge or a load is undeclared, the check refuses to name an exact unit and names the single measurement to take first. An unknown is never converted into a pass.

Example result — not your result

Two nights, no shore power, refrigerator and lights declared, no solar and no alternator declared: the daily loop stays open, so the trip is closed by stored energy alone and the planning band is sized on the full two days.

Stated limitation in this example: no startup surge was declared, so compatibility with any specific unit is unproven and no product is named.

Not ready to start? What is missing?

Optional, fixed choices only. No free text is collected.

Products this check may confirm — or rule out

Illustrative candidates, not a ranking. Your inputs determine the result. Affiliate status never determines technical eligibility.

BLUETTI AC200L
RV-ready 2 kWh class
The check tests it against your daily energy need, your recharge path and any declared motor start.
Candidate — not a recommendation|Affiliate program active
Start with this unit →
BLUETTI Elite 300
Compact 3 kWh RV class
Native TT-30 and 12 V/30 A, with the Charger 2 recharge path. Usable energy is planned from the lower independent measurement, not the best case.
Candidate — not a recommendation|Affiliate program active
BLUETTI Apex 300
Expandable high-load architecture
Expansion is only credited when this repository holds the evidence to close a mission that depends on it. Otherwise the check says so.
Candidate — not a recommendation|Affiliate program active
BLUETTI RV5
Integrated RV architecture
An installed system, not a portable station. It is only ever shown when the verdict is an installed architecture or you explicitly accept installation.
Candidate — not a recommendation|Affiliate program active

Also checked by the catalog: Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 — official page only, non-affiliate.

No product images here — the check decides, not photographs. It can also conclude that none of these units closes your setup.

Check my setup against these options

By Alexis Marchais · Published 15 August 2026 · Reviewed 15 August 2026 · Before the Battery, an independent decision-support publication. Method and corrections are published and dated in the revision log.

Solar generator for an RV: what the term actually has to cover

Most RV power advice starts from a capacity number and works backwards to a story. This page does the opposite: it publishes the equations used by the free RV weekend check, states the assumptions behind each constant, and marks the points where the method refuses to answer.

RV sizing — the three gates, evaluated separately

01Mission energyDoes the whole trip close?Nights × declared Wh per night, minus credited recharge, against usable energy after inverter losses and a retained reserve.
02Daily loopDoes each day pay for the night before?Credited recharge per day against the declared daily need. A trip can finish on stored energy while the loop stays open — those are different verdicts.
03Peak and startupDoes anything trip at the moment it starts?Declared running watts plus the worst declared startup surge. Never inferred from average energy: undeclared means unproven, and unproven means no product is named.

The four equations

01 — Daily energy need

daily_wh = Σ (device watts × hours per day) · or a directly declared Wh/day

Declared per device. Nothing is inferred from an appliance category, and an undeclared device is not silently assumed to be zero.

02 — Mission energy

mission_wh = (daily_wh × nights) − (credited_recharge_wh_per_day × nights)

Credited recharge counts solar, alternator and shore power only at the figure you declare. Trips are scoped from 1 to 7 nights; beyond that the answer is an installed-system question.

03 — Usable capacity

required_capacity_wh = mission_wh ÷ 0.765

0.765 = 0.85 AC delivery × 0.90 retained reserve. It is a planning factor, not a manufacturer claim, and it is applied identically to every candidate.

04 — Conservative system peak

peak_w = max over devices of ( starting_w(i) + (continuous_w − running_w(i)) )

Simultaneity is included: one device surges while everything else keeps running. Running watts are used only when explicitly declared. If any running or starting figure is missing, the peak is unproven and no exact product is named.

Where the method abstains

Undeclared startup surge. No surge figure, no product. A compressor or air conditioner that starts is an instantaneous event that average energy cannot model.
An open daily loop. A trip can finish on stored energy while each day still costs more than it recovers. Those are separate verdicts and we publish both.
Air conditioning without shore power. Usually a generator or hybrid question. We say so rather than sizing a battery into a bad answer.
TT-30 above the planning ceiling. Past 2,880 W of continuous demand the pedestal, not the battery, is the constraint.

Run it on your own trip

Start the 3-minute RV check

Worked cases and further reading

Frequently asked questions

How many watt-hours do I need for an RV weekend?: Add the watt-hours each device uses per day, multiply by the number of nights, then subtract the recharge you can actually credit each day. Divide the remainder by 0.765 to account for inverter losses and a retained reserve. A typical no-air-conditioning weekend lands between 600 and 1,200 Wh per night, but the figure that matters is the one you declare for your own loads.
Can a solar generator run an RV air conditioner?: Only with a declared running wattage and a declared startup surge, and usually only with a soft start and a large battery. Without those declared figures the check abstains: a roof air conditioner can draw two to three times its running watts for a fraction of a second, and no capacity number predicts that.
What does a TT-30 pedestal actually allow?: 120 V times 30 A is 3,600 W of nameplate capacity. We plan against 2,880 W as a conservative ceiling, which is a planning figure and not an electrical code limit. Anything above that is an architecture question, not a battery question.
Why do you sometimes refuse to recommend anything?: Because a missing fact is not a small fact. If startup surge is undeclared, if the daily recharge loop stays open, or if the trip needs an installed system, we say so and name the measurement to take. Naming a product on top of an unknown would be a guess wearing a number.
Is solar or an alternator the better recharge path?: Whichever one you can actually credit. Solar depends on panel area, season and shade; alternator charging depends on drive time and the charger you have. The check credits only the recharge you declare, so both paths are compared on the same daily watt-hour basis.