Solar panel (1 Viewer)

[jearing]

Hi I've got a portable solar panel 15watts, can I plug it into the cigarette lighter to charge the liesure batteries??

Joe

 

[Stealaway]

I don't think so, cig lighter is usually on the engine battery. 15watts aint gonna charge anything much.

 

[tonka]

As above.. 15w is just not worth bothering with... Cig socket will be to cab battery only PLUS you would need to make sure the socket is actually live when the ignition is off, most are not.
Once heard of someone that had one of these plugged in for a long time but as the socket was not live it never did a thing..

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[pappajohn]

15w is a tad over 1amp in perfect conditions......ie: full overhead sun in mid summer
In the real world in winter it may be 1/4 amp or less.
Chances are your alarm and radio memory will draw more than that negating any solar power.

 

[Lenny HB]

If you mean the cigarette socket in cab, no that is wired to the engine battery and normally only connected with the engine running.
If you have one in the habitation area the answer is still probably no as that will connected via your distribution unit.

Also 15 watts is far to small to give any worth while charge. Depending on you energy use you need a minimum of 80 watts up to several hundred watts.

 

[Stealaway]

This is a solar panel -----

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[pappajohn]

This is a solar panel -----

View attachment 196263

And a BIG heap of coal for the generator when the sun doesn't shine.

 

[autorouter]

I have two 2.4 watt solar panels that I use to keep the vehicle and leisure batteries topped up during storage. They work fine now that I fixed a wiring fault. Even in winter.

A 15 watt panel will certainly keep the battery topped up in storage, but wouldn't make much progress if you were trying to replace average daily usage.

If the lighter socket is connected to the leisure battery, then you can use it to charge from the solar panel.

 

[pappajohn]

I have two 2.4 watt solar panels that I use to keep the vehicle and leisure batteries topped up during storage. They work fine now that I fixed a wiring fault. Even in winter.

That's an absolute max of 200 ma and even in summer won't produce anywhere near that.
In winter it may be hard pushed to produce 75ma and with the vans parasitic loads it will never keep up.

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[Richard n Ann]

That's an absolute max of 200 ma and even in summer won't produce anywhere near that.
In winter it may be hard pushed to produce 75ma and with the vans parasitic loads it will never keep up.

Really depends what's draining the battery. Sounds like you've got some issues. Our leisure battery discharges by 1ma when the main switch is off. So a 200ma charge for a few hours every other day is plenty. These small panels can be propped up to directly face the sun of course, and will produce near their full rated amps (not AH) in winter.
Don't know what the drain is on the engine battery but we've been parked up in Benidorm for a month when the van was new and had no problems, so it's not much.

 

[jearing]

Thanks all for your replies I think I need a bigger panel.

Joe

 

[autorouter]

That's an absolute max of 200 ma and even in summer won't produce anywhere near that.
In winter it may be hard pushed to produce 75ma and with the vans parasitic loads it will never keep up.

For periods of time my MH is in storage without EHU. Before getting solar panels, I would check the batteries every two weeks. Using a charged spare battery transported on my scooter, I'd charge the van batteries using a 150 watt PSW inverter and CTEK MSX 5.0 charger. I found that I needed to charge the batteries alternately, so each one was charged every four weeks.

Since the 2.4 watt solar panels were connected, I still check every two weeks, but the batteries never need charging. And yes, I check the voltage at night when it's dark.

So I'm sure you're right that it's putting out 100 mA, or less in winter. I didn't measure it. But, feeble though it certainly is, it did the job.

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