Solar battery charger

paulitzlee2 · 01-09-2010, 04:22 PM

My neighbor told me you can get a solar battery charger. It will keep the battery charged all the time, and you don't need to do anything.

How effective are these?

What do they cost, about?

Can I use one and go dry-camping and use the lights at night? I know the TV/microwave/AC/DVD are out of the question.

Is it safe to drive with it? They won't break or jar loose when you're driving?

Here in Sacramento, we have fog in the winter. Will that keep the battery from being charged in the winter, thereby maybe draining the battery?

Any other thoughts on solar battery chargers?[/list]

**LJAZ** · 01-10-2010, 03:19 PM

Depends on what you mean by "all the time". There are inexpensive ones designed to maintain the battery charge when its not in use. I have one of these that I bought to maintain the battery on a vehicle that I don't use all the time. It cost about $25 and is rated at around 3 watts. It would take a very long time to recharge a discharged RV battery- days or weeks I would think.

To maintain the charge on a battery in use during dry camping I would think you'd need several solar panels rated for at least 100 watts or more. These are pricey and probably can't be used while driving. I'm far from an expert on this, but Camping world sells a 100 watt solar panel system with controller for $1000 as a reference point.