Opinion on the solar chargers

[dsonthelake84]

I was looking into getting a solar charger for my boat to keep my battery up and going. They seem pretty resonable price wise. Has anyone used them and if so what is a good one to buy. I use a 12v battery.

[CatFan96]

In order to charge a single battery, you'd need an output from the panel of more than 50 Watts, which would give you about 3-4A. That's about a 2X2 piece of glass you have to deal with in your boat.

You'd only get the 50W in bright sunshine, so they are worthless for overnight or cloudy day charging. It would probably take 2 sunny days to top of the battery, and without a charge controller you'd then overcharge on any sunny day after that. You'll spend at least $325 for a minimally useful panel, plus another $185 for the controller for a single battery.

The cheap ones aren't much good, and the good ones are expensive and pain to deal with.

[dsonthelake84]

Thanks might not get it.

[ryan_ekubass]

i would say that a extra battery would be alot cheaper in the long run for ya......