Solar chargers

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
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west Texas
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Display name:
Dave Taylor
How do they not overcharge a battery?
Most of the ones I see have no electronics....its a photocell connected to wires which attach to the battery.
So, for those with these devices, do you have one with a controller or is the fear unfounded?
 
All the low-end solar chargers I've seen in the boat stores include an electronic controller to avoid overcharging the battery. There's also a diode in there to keep the battery from discharging through the solar panel when it's dark. I had one of these to keep the bilge pump alive all summer on a boat we kept in the water and it worked quite well. The higher-capacity panels tend to be sold as just panels so that they can be wired together. In most marine installations there will be several panels, not just one. One still needs a controller, that's purchased separately.

Regards,
Joe
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
think this one has a limiter?
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...-E3B3-DC11-BE2A-001422107090&mr:referralID=NA
Click to expand...

Hey, I said boat store! :D I can't tell if that one has a limiter or not. Doesn't really look like it, but I can't really see what's under the 12V plug. Looks like more than just a coil of wire. It's not priced that differently than one I bought a couple of years ago for $40 which did include a limiter. How's their return policy?

You got me checking around. Over on West Marine's solar page they say that you don't need a limiter if the output of the panel is less than 1.5% of the battery's rated capacity. Their low-end chargers say they don't need limiters now. But proceed with caution: most boat batteries have much higher capacities than aircraft batteries.

Regards,
Joe
 
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