Solar Power Trickle Chargers

[Ben.]

So, having no power in my garage , I was thinking about a solar power trickle charger for my car's long lay up periods.
I have seen some on the internet but was wondering if anybody has used one before. Not much sun here during the winter but may be worth a go.

 

[polak]

From the only experience I have of these they are woefully bad at providing any decent amount of charge in anything but perfect sunshine.

If the skies are clouded over, the portable solar chargers struggle to power a mobile phone.

Are these specifically designed for car batteries? I would expect the surface area of the solar panels to be pretty big in order to provide any valuable charge at all!

 

[Ben.]

http://www.tantronics.co.uk/acatalog/Sunsei_SE-135_Solar_Panel_135mA_2W_Solar_Charger.html

Looks like it could do the trick..

 

[cj10jeeper]

Unless you have no roof on the garage or it's glass, I'd not be counting on very good results

 

[sp3ctre]

I dont get it... we get some lovely crisp winter days in Dec/Jan... why not just take the car for the odd jaunt round the countryside every few weeks? It's not like in certain parts of the USA/Canada, where conditions mean the car is undrivable in winter?

 

[WaZZZZman]

Be real careful with trickle chargers. You must get one that not only trickle charges but is smart enough to stop charging when the battery charged. I got a cheap one and it trickle charged and trickle charged, and trickle charged until the battery was completely fried. Do not skimp on this unless you really like supporting the battery industry as a contributor to the economy. I had to purchase a new battery for my Mercedes because of trying to cut corners. No way would I trust a solar powered device.

You can get a good one at the dealer, but after inspecting one, I found that all the controls, lights and facilities of the BMW trickle charger were mysteriously exactly the same as one you can get for about half the price from Deltran. Here is a link to a place that sells them. http://www.batterymart.com The BMW device came in a fancy carrier, but I think it is the same device with a different logo on it. I use them on all my cars, and when I was at the dealer every new car had one connected.