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Hi can anyone give me some info on a small solar panel that can sit on our dashboard do just plug it into you cig lighter and will it trickle charge your motor home battery when not in use
I use two of these panels when the motorhome is not being used for a few weeks. The small 1 watt ones are pretty useless because your alarm (if you have one) and your radio (even when switched off, they use power to maintain the station memory) drain the battery more than the panel puts in. So I use a 2.4 watt one to maintain the leisure battery and a 4.8 watt one to maintain the engine battery. Even this will not maintain the battery indefinitely but will keep it OK for about three weeks without starting the engine. Both are often on offer at Maplins.
As regards plugging into your cigar lighter, this is only if your cigar lighter is permanently live, otherwise go directly to the battery with the crocodile clips provided.
What a super question! There really is no good answer.
The energy supplied by the small panel should be just capable of keeping an 'average' sized battery stable, if the sun shines for a certain number of hours per day. Always assuming you do not have your alarm system switched on all of the time or like me, forget to switch off my radio.
Last year mine managed okay most of the time, to keep my engine battery topped up through the cigarette lighter socket. This is not possible on all vehicles.
However, the outlay is not great and the returns can be satisfactory.
I live in hope that someone will provide loads of statistics on this thread to confirm my findings.
Alan
I have a 13W Maplins "suitcase" which fits successfully on the dash of my Swift Bolero with the blinds drawn behind it. I have an alarm and tracker fitted which both draw current all the time. The 13W is enough to keep the cab battery charged from about mid March to mid November but can't cope during short winter days even with the suitcase south facing.
You will need to connect direct to the battery using the crocodile clips, but it would be a pain to keep lifting the rubber floor and battery cover. Otherwise you could have a permanently live cigar lighter socket fitted (through a fuse for safety).
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Germany
