Starlink solves the connectivity problem, but it introduces a power one - and if you're running off battery and solar rather than mains, that second problem is the one that actually decides whether you can use it. This isn't a "buy this panel" article. It's the actual watt-hour math, so you can work out whether your existing setup already covers it, or how much you'd need to add if it doesn't.
How much power Starlink actually draws
There are two pieces of Starlink hardware, and they're not close in power draw - see our full Starlink Roam review for the rest of the picture, but the numbers that matter for sizing a power system are these:
- Starlink Mini - roughly 20-40 watts once running, with the usual short spike on startup. It can run on 12-24V DC via Starlink's optional Mini Car Adapter, so it comes straight off your caravan's existing battery system with no inverter in the loop.
- Standard Kit - roughly 50-75 watts once running, more again during startup or if it needs to melt snow or ice off the dish. It needs 240V, so off-grid that means running it through an inverter, which adds a small extra loss on top of the dish's own draw.
Both figures assume the dish is actively connected and passing data. Starlink's own sleep-scheduling feature can switch it off for set hours - overnight, or while you're out for the day - which is the single biggest lever you have over how much of this draw you actually carry.
Working out your daily energy use
Watts tell you the draw at any one instant. What your battery and solar actually need to cover is watt-hours per day - the draw multiplied by how many hours it's switched on. Two realistic patterns:
- Running most of the day (say 24 hours, no sleep schedule set) - a Mini at 30W averages out to about 720Wh (0.72kWh) a day; a Standard Kit at 60W comes to about 1,440Wh (1.44kWh) a day.
- Scheduled off overnight (roughly 12 hours a day) - the Mini drops to about 360Wh a day; the Standard Kit to about 720Wh a day.
Those are averages using the middle of each device's draw range, not a guarantee - your actual figure depends on signal conditions, ambient temperature and exactly how many hours you leave it connected. Treat them as a planning estimate, not a spec sheet number.
How much battery capacity that needs
A battery's rated capacity and what you can actually use out of it aren't the same number. Lithium (LiFePO4) batteries can safely be run down close to empty, so a sensible working figure is around 90% of rated capacity as usable, leaving a little margin for longevity. AGM batteries need to stay much better rested to avoid shortening their life - closer to 50% usable is the standard rule of thumb.
A 100Ah battery at 12V holds about 1,200Wh nominal. Usable, that's roughly:
- Lithium 100Ah: about 1,080Wh usable
- AGM 100Ah: about 600Wh usable
Set against the daily figures above: a Mini run continuously (720Wh) would use about two-thirds of a 100Ah lithium's usable capacity in a single day with zero solar input, or fully drain a 100Ah AGM's usable capacity in under a day. A Standard Kit run continuously (1,440Wh) would need more than a 100Ah lithium's entire usable capacity in one day - realistically that calls for a 150Ah-plus lithium bank, or an AGM bank sized well above 200Ah, before solar even enters the picture.
Scheduling the dish off overnight roughly halves every one of those figures, which is usually the cheaper fix before reaching for a bigger, more expensive battery.
How much solar panel you need
A rough, conservative planning figure for Australian conditions is about 5 effective sun-hours a day - accounting for panel angle, some cloud, and a portable panel that isn't perfectly tracking the sun rather than a fixed, optimally-angled rooftop install. Divide your daily watt-hour figure by that to get the panel wattage needed to fully replace what Starlink draws:
| Setup | Daily energy use | Panel wattage to fully offset it |
|---|---|---|
| Mini, scheduled off overnight | ~360Wh | ~80-100W |
| Mini, running most of the day | ~720Wh | ~150-160W |
| Standard Kit, scheduled off overnight | ~720Wh | ~150-160W |
| Standard Kit, running most of the day | ~1,440Wh | ~300W |
Folding/portable panels in these ranges currently run roughly $150-350 for a 120W panel and $260-620 for a 200W panel on the Australian market, depending on brand and whether a controller is bundled in - worth treating as a ballpark, not a quote, since camping-gear pricing moves often and varies a lot by kit inclusions. A 100-200Ah lithium battery on its own typically runs somewhere in the $600-1,300 range. None of this is a recommendation of a specific brand - it's here so you know roughly what you're pricing up before you go shopping.
Starlink usually isn't your biggest power draw
It's easy to treat "can I run Starlink" as its own separate power project, but for most rigs it's genuinely a moderate line item, not the dominant one. A 12V compressor fridge left running is commonly somewhere around 0.24-0.7kWh a day by itself - roughly doubling in hot weather - which for a Mini on a sleep schedule is a similar or bigger draw than Starlink altogether, and for a Standard Kit run all day it's still a meaningful chunk sitting alongside it.
That reframes the real question. If your rig already carries a reasonable lithium battery bank and 150-200W or more of solar to cover the fridge, lighting and charging you were already doing, adding a Mini on a sensible schedule may not need anything extra at all. The cases that genuinely call for adding capacity are a Standard Kit run most of the day, a smaller or older AGM-based system, or persistently overcast conditions where solar input can't be relied on to keep up regardless of panel size.
Worth keeping separate in your head: a jump starter like the iTechworld JS60 is built to crank an engine, not to run appliances for hours - it's not a substitute for house battery capacity, even though it also stores charge.
Common questions
Can I run Starlink straight off my existing caravan battery with no changes?
Often yes, especially a Mini on a sleep schedule paired with an already-reasonable lithium and solar setup. Work through the daily watt-hour figures above against your own battery capacity and typical sun exposure before assuming either way.
Does the Starlink Standard Kit need an inverter off-grid?
Yes. It runs on 240V, so away from mains power that means routing it through an inverter, which adds a small extra power loss on top of the dish's own draw. The Mini avoids this entirely by running on 12-24V DC via its optional car adapter.
Will a cloudy day flatten my battery running Starlink?
It can, if your battery bank is already sized close to the edge. A run of overcast days is exactly why the guidance above uses a conservative sun-hours figure and stresses usable capacity rather than a battery's full rated size - the margin is there for exactly this.
Is it worth buying a dedicated solar setup just for Starlink?
Usually only if you're running a Standard Kit most of the day, working from a smaller or older AGM system, or camping somewhere with genuinely unreliable sun. Otherwise, check what your existing panel and battery are already covering first - adding a Mini on a schedule is often well within a setup you already own.
The short version: figure out your daily watt-hours before you buy anything. A Mini on a sensible schedule is a modest, usually-already-covered load; a Standard Kit run all day off-grid is a genuine power project worth sizing properly, not guessing at. Either way, the numbers above are the actual planning tool - not a sales pitch for a bigger system than you need.
Last updated September 2026.