Solar trickle charger

[Adrian585]

Here are some photos of my solar battery charger i use on my navara.

 

[Jason]

How many amps max can you get out of that? Cool idea.

 

[Adrian585]

The solar panel is only 10 watts, so less than an amp. I leave it plugged into the navara when im not using it to keep the battery topped up. Sometimes i dont start it for 3 weeks or so.

 

[will]

I've been thinking of doing something like this with my boat. where did you get the panel from & have you had any problems with it?

thanks for sharing.

 

[Adrian585]

I sourced all the parts i needed from jaycar & made it myself. You can buy a premade kit from supercheap in 10 or 20 watts. Solar panels are dropping in price every week at the moment. So the ones from supercheap could be a bit pricey. I have had no problems so far & its been there for over a year. Also the panels from jaycar have a 10 year warranty i think.

 

[tweak'e]

looks like you have one of the old type on/off regulators. a PWM would be better or a MPPT if they make one that small.

i run the same solar panel but a morningstar PWM controller. wired in permanently to my other vehicle. trouble is shading, it doesn't get the sun enough to keep the battery fully charged all year round.