solar panels

[reginaldon]

Have recently become a small boat (Caprice) owner, I have a decent battery & a spare, but I am exploring cheap means of trickle charging the battery for occasional use. Are these small solar panels for use by car drivers a possibility - ie. if the anode(?) to prevent reverse flow of charge, a proposition; is there any possibility of overcharging?

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[anchorhandler]

They work very well, provided the sunrays penetrate throught the rain of course.
I use a Unisolar 5W flexible panel which gives me around .5 of and amp charging current. This has always kept my main starting battery fully charged and ready for use. Depending on how many battery's you want to charge, you can opt for more powerfull units.
Although most panels will come with a blocking diode, its worth investing in a unit of reasonable quality as it will be living in a pretty harsh enviroment (especially if its mounted outside) and photovoltaic cells are generally not the most robust bits of kit.
Simon

<hr width=100% size=1>I'v got 2 ears.2 eyes and 1 mouth....if only i could use them in that proportion!

 

[nct1]

Five years ago I tried the small car chargers and they simply did not produce enough to keep the battery topped up, and also I have tried a small solar panel to charge domestic batteries, but again it was as much use as a chocolate kettle.

However, I bought a 10w BP flexible solar panel and that has kept the boat battery topped up over the winter, this does have the flow direction box, and it works !.

Check the output rating of the so-called car battery charger, and remember on average the sun will produce half of that figure, and see whether it would actually output anything worthwhile


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[VicS]

The use of solar panels has been discussed several times on this forum. Do a search and you should find loads.

Specifically the use of the inexpensive panels sold for keeping a car battery topped up has recently been raised and favourably reported on.

I am in a similar situation to yourself, namely a small boat and a small (leisure) battery and only a small electrical demand: cabin lights in the evening, very ocassional use of nav lights for a few hours, echo sounder, VHF and auto pilot when I get fed up with hand steering. So a few years ago I bought a 5watt panel and permanently mounted it on deck. It has done exactly what I bought it for and I rate it as one of my best buys. It cost about £100.

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[bajo]

Yes I have a small sailing boat, and I fitted a flexible Uni-solar panel model MBC -262 and its directly connected 70 amp/hr battery, it is secured to the coach roof with 5200 silicon. The best investment i have made for my hummingbird fish finder&depth, VHF, cabin lights ,mind you I do get plenty sunlight. Iwould still go for it if I were you.

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[VicMallows]

So would I .... in Barbados!

Right here in the UK today, a small wind generator would have your batteries topped up in no time!


Vic


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