considering solar charger.

[tashasdaddy]

i will be moving to a dock that does not have electricity. i will need a solar charger, for accessory battery, lights & trolling motor, also occasional charge on starting battery.

i was think 15 Watt with maintainer.

suggestions, electronics is not my thing.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: considering solar charger.

If I remember my math, 15 watt equates to about 1.2 amps at 12VDC. It would take a very long time to charge a battery at that rate.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: considering solar charger.

Yup -- a solar panel big enough to charge a deeply discharged deep cycle would need to be the size of your boat and cost a bundle. Look at it by the numbers. 1.2 amps to charge a battery that was used for one hour to run a trolling motor at the fastest speed would take roughly 40 - 50 hours of full sunlight to accomplish. A 12 volt 40 - 55# thrust motor draws 42 - 50 amps in that one hours time. You can do the math for longer periods. Solar is not your solution but a portable generator would be.

 

[trendsetter240]

Re: considering solar charger.

I agree not your best choice.

I have a pair of 15w solar panels and a charge controler that work great for keeping batteries topped up when my boat is in storage. However, as mentioned they simply cannot recharge a deep cycle that has been run down.

My pair of panels cost about 200$ and put out 2.1 amps at 14.2 volts on a bright sunny day. Cloudy days they only put out 1/8 of that.