Portable Solar Trickle Charger

[TonyBrown1948]

Hi - new to this forum, so if there is already a thread for this topic, sorry, have not found it yet. I need a portable solar trickle charger to use inside my camper van cab to keep battery charged when camper van is not used, (Transit Mk7 2008, 2.2lt engine). Its just to charge the vans starter battery, not to charge the second/accessory battery. I would like something about 20 watt, to ensure enough charge is put into van battery, and with connections for vans cigarette lighter and direct to battery. Can anyone recommend a charger that will be suitable? Thanks in advance.

[Ocsid]

The size of the panel required depends on many things, including :

What inherent drains are on the battery.

Direction & elevation the panel can face.

Any shadows thrown onto it.

What times of the year you hope it can cover.

 

Finding a viable solution can be difficult, but providing nothing throws shadows on the panel for long, the bigger the Wattage the better the chance of it consistently working as hoped. I say this as these days somewhat larger panels together with controllers can be purchased for pretty modest sums, so my advice is thing big planning to win.

 

A point of caution, though I don't know Ford's 2008 wiring strategy many makers fit cigarette lighter sockets switched via by the "ignition" master switch, possibly via a timer, so they are not always "live".

[lancepar]

Welcome Tony,

 

I use a small portable panel less than 10watts on the dash so it don't need a controller to avoid overcharging the battery and converted one of the two ciggy outlets so it's hot all the time.

Even when cloudy it still generates some electricity and works for me.

 

HTH

B-)

[Derek Uzzell]

Ocsid - 2020-04-22 3:02 PM

 

...A point of caution, though I don't know Ford's 2008 wiring strategy many makers fit cigarette lighter sockets switched via by the "ignition" master switch, possibly via a timer, so they are not always "live".

 

I’m trying to recall whether the cigarette-lighter socket on my 2005 Ford Transit Mk 6-based Hobby motorhome was ‘ignition-switch controlled’ and I think that was the case.

 

A Transit Mk 7’s starter-battery will be housed beneath the driver’s seat and may not be easily accessible if that seat has a swivel mechanism. Swivel or not, attaching cabling to the starter-battery’s terminals with a plug/socket arrangement to permit easy connection/disconnection to the solar panel’s cabling would be a sensible move.