solar panels

[theduke]

hi i'm looking for a solar panel suitable for trickle charging 12v battery. boat is only used at weekends so consumption is very low ie vhf,gps.
any-one out there know wether a 10w unit would be sufficient for my needs? or do i need bigger?

 

[Guest]

I had a 10 watt flexible solar panel on my last boat charging a 110ah battery. Brilliant, battery always fully charged summer or winter. I was so impressed I've just bought the same panel for my new boat, this time charging 2x95ah batteries.

Regards,

Peter
http://www.mistressofmourne.com

 

[Modulation]

Have a peek at www.solarchargers.com - they know a thing or two.

Brendan

Brendan

 

[Guest]

I use a 14 watt panel to charge 2x 75 batteries. No problems.

 

[Guest]

I am located on the east coast of Austraili (Sub Tropical Climate) so lots of sunshine. We keep our 12 volt battery topped up with a very small Solar Panel, Made by BP: 2 Watts (yes two) it was bought at Dick Smith Electronics, Cost A$98.00.
We sail our Sonata 7 most weekends and Thrusday evenings, Onboard we use, 27 meg radio, VHF, Autohelm, GPs and fluro cabin lights. Nav lights etc are not normally used. In reality we sail for probably 5 hours a week so not much power is really used. We have a larger 20 Watt Panel which we use when we are cruising but found it to large to leave on all of the time. Since using the 2 watt panel I have not needed to use the 240volt charger. The big question is what is your location and how much sunlight do you get?. Ray

 

[yoda]

I have a 10w panel and use it to keep my 2 deep cycle batteries topped up. Does the job very well. Also consider fitting a regulator to protect the battery. Try www.purplewhale.com.