REMCODEGRAVE Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Hi! What do people think of the Halfords Battery maintainer solar panel? Is it any good for getting longer usage time out of a 100Ah leisure battery? Or do people suggest other panels? I’m looking for something not too expensive and easy to install (e.g. just place at the wind screen) - but maybe that’s just wishful thinking...? I did a bit of an online search and got horribly confused. Many thanks for any advice! Cheers Remco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Hi and welcome, The largest they offer is only 6 Watts so in perfect, sunny conditions will deliver a measly 1/2 Amp!!! https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/battery-chargers-jump-starters/halfords-solar-battery-maintainer-12v-6w This will just about keep up with parasitic drains of alarms, etc. when in storage but absolutely no use when putting any load on the battery. I think you would need at least 100 Watts to be of any use. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Agree with Keith. I bought a 2.4watt Halfords solar battery maintainer....just to keep the starter battery topped-up during storage. It just trickle charges the battery to offset the parasitic drain from the vehicle electronics. For any useful charge you need a panel of 80watts minimum. If you don't want to fix one permanently to your roof, you could look at suitcase style panels which open out to lay on the dashboard (or prop-up outside). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REMCODEGRAVE Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 Thanks, this really helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Also if the panel is behind the windscreen the output will be halved as the uv light is filtered out. Been there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.