Solar Panels to keep batteries topped up?

[Cast-Away]

I was thinking about buying one to keep my deep cycle topped up as it slowly loses its charge in my driveway. Anyone use one, or have any comments? I know that the output is pretty low, but wondered about personal experiences.

[Fishnfiend]

My father is doing that this year on his battery for his bow-mount trolling motor. We did the math and figured if he used his motor for an hour or so a week it would never get overcharged. He has the small (1 or 2 watt) panel from C.T.

I reused the plastic packaging and 'Red Greened' the edges to make it waterproof. So far, so good.

 

Let me know what you end up doing and how it works for you.

[Bear]

Great question, was wondering this myself

 

 

Slight bump to get a few more replies

[Stoty]

My buddy has one on his boat. Seems to work pretty well.

[danw]

I bought one of the small 1.8 Watt solar panels from CT when it was on sale for $9.99. From my testing, it did not produce much power. When I hooked it up to an LED (voltage converted) to test it, it gave a medium-high brightness on sunny day. And when using a halogen flood lamp over it, it never gave the 1.8 watt ratting on a multimeter. I don't remember what but it was near 1.8 but not 1.8 watts. IMO it be okay to slow down or maybe stop trickle loss, but I would not worry about it over charging.

[Gerry]

Don't waste your money. I tried that with a panel that had a 20 watt rating and it still didn't work. A battery charger is a much better investment.

[Cast-Away]

THanks for the feedback. I did a bit of research and found out that they are not waterproof, so they are useless to me. I was planning on leaving it on top of my boat cover facing south, but not if it will short out.

[outdoor]

I've got a small panel and love it. I only hook it up when I'm out on the water and it's keeps the 42 lb trolling motor going all day.

 

2 more sleeps until Gowganda!!!!