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To get a rough idea of what works with solar. Our old PDQ we had a small fridge (no freezer), probably about 3 cu ft or so and 325 watts of solar more than kept things topped off, even on cloudy days. Our present boat has 110 liter freezer (4 cu ft) and 130 liter refrig from Frigoboat. 700 watt panels keep everything nice and topped off quite well. The key with refrigerators is not just having them well insulated as the difference in heat loss between 3 inches and 4 inches isn't really that much. The key is the location of the compressor. The compressor must be in a cool, well ventilated compartment. Some compressors are on the back of the refrigerator and then sit against a bulkhead with a small vent hole. In the tropics, that small compartment will quickly heat up and once the temp goes over 100 degrees it's really not going to be able to bring down the temperature of the refrigerator to what you need it to be. Having a unit with a remote compressor that can sit in a low locker near the bilge and have a directed vent of it's hot air immediately outside the locker can make the difference between the compressor running 30% of the time and 100% of the time.
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