<span class="highlight">Solar</span> <span class="highlight">panel</span> for battery saver

Hi, I have a couple of the 5 watt ones I leave connected to the rideon & battery for the sounder & radio in the boat.Also a 10 watt one for the battery on the electric fence. None have obvious regulators but could be built in. Work best when battery is fully charged & near new.The 5 watt ones came with both a ciggy plug & clips to go direct to the battery. THe 10 watt works the best but was 3 times the price of the others. Need full sun for as much of the day as possible.
Left connected permanently & haven't ruined a battery yet. That said I don't .connect to new or expensive batteries but to ones that have done service elsewhere. Bill

You have to work on how much current your boat draws on standby and calculate panel size to suit..... base panel size on 4 hrs per day max sunlight.

So is you have a radio that draws 200ma per hour; over a day that would be 4.8 amps over a 24 hour period and if your solar panels are only going to put back 3 amps a day you battery over time will run flat.

Any solar panel is better with a regulator.

I have always wondered how the cigerette plug solar panels work if you have the engine turned off??

Honky

Hi Alby,
I have a 2 watt and it is split into two ciggy plugs which are attached to both batteries in the boat.
I have used it for 5 years so far and both batteries are OK and ready to go.

I have not worried about putting the batteries away fully charged, just how they finish at the end of the fishing day.

The solar panel is on top of a carport that gets full sun all day.

Seems to be the best solution to keeping boat batteries charged.

bill