texasfishingforum.com logo
Main Menu
Advertisement
Affiliates
Advertisement
Newest Members
TraeMartin, Power-Pole CS, T-Rigger, JoeGoes, EcKo
119150 Registered Users
Top Posters(All Time)
hopalong 120,585
TexDawg 119,524
Bigbob_FTW 94,903
John175☮ 85,892
Pilothawk 83,264
Bob Davis 81,523
Mark Perry 72,297
Derek 🐝 68,312
JDavis7873 67,416
Forum Statistics
Forums59
Topics1,037,854
Posts13,935,657
Members144,150
Most Online39,925
Dec 30th, 2023
Print Thread
Solar chargers? #12475250 10/23/17 01:27 AM
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 108
Jtunnell Offline OP
Outdoorsman
OP Offline
Outdoorsman
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 108
Does anyone here use solar panels to charge your cranking or trolling batteries? I have an onboard charger but live in an apartment complex and they don't have outlets for covered parking. I tried googling some alternative solutions but didn't come up with much.

Moritz Chevrolet - 9101 Camp Bowie W Blvd, Fort Worth, TX - Monte Coon (817) 696-2003
Re: Solar chargers? [Re: Jtunnell] #12475259 10/23/17 01:41 AM
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 56
Tucker01 Offline
Outdoorsman
Offline
Outdoorsman
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 56
I used this one for a couple years without any issues at my apartment.

Was 12v trolling so was pretty easy. Every now and then Id put it on starter. I never ran out of juice and never measured before/after but it always seemed topped off for the weekend.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006JO0TC/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Re: Solar chargers? [Re: Jtunnell] #12475432 10/23/17 07:51 AM
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 4,724
F
Flippin-Out Offline
TFF Team Angler
Offline
TFF Team Angler
F
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 4,724
I'd venture to say you're going to need quite a bank of cells to get enough amperage to accomplish any meaningful charge progress. For the batteries many of us use in bass boats, a recommended charge rate capacity is easily 10 amps - for best health of properly charging the battery. Ten amps at 13.5 volts is 135 watts. The solar cell on Amazon provides 5 watts. That's possibly OK to maintain a charged battery (but not charge a depleted one).

If you had enough cells to provide several amps, you'd still be able to charge only one battery at a time. I see no reasonably viable solar cell option for what we need to charge boat batteries.... My solution was an enclosed storage bay with power - until I owned a home with ample garage space.

Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread

© 1998-2022 OUTDOOR SITES NETWORK all rights reserved USA and Worldwide
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.3