This low-cost (£10) solar panel is rated at 1.5W and is designed to keep a car battery topped up when left standing for long periods.
By Julian
Youtuber, shed dweller, solar charge controller aficionado
Good morning all…
Youtuber, shed dweller, solar charge controller aficionado
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There's 2 small wires right next to the led light. Disconnect one of them, it'll disconnect just the led light
Great for maintenance, but it would take months to get a charge if the battery were significantly low.
If P = I * V then 1.5 = X * 12 and 1.5/12 = X
How could this panel put out any more than 12.5 mA?
I have read that those pointless LEDs on these panels do end up taking the lion's share of the current in this application and that the LEDs are best removed.
If I ever need a nominal 10 mA for 5 or 6 hours a day, I know what to buy 😏 I'm not in the UK but I am near the Canadian border in the USA and that low sun tho!
I think this solar panel is meant to keep the battery from discharging so it would be really good during the winter
People should put an ammeter on their auto battery and see what it draws in sleep mode before buying these. Some people with parasitic draw will write bad reviews on these. They work if your car is a good sleeper.
Interesting. I hooked it up to my truck had 11.89v on the battery. I hooked it up in mid day sun and in 3 hrs I was at 12.08v.
Cool you did the math, but you have a fatal misunderstanding of what the product is for. It's meant to maintain a fully topped off battery, not bring one back to life. Start your experiment over doing it properly and see how it performs.
Only works for cell phone
How do you get the wire into the car
I lived in London England for a while. I think it was cloudy and raining 75% of the time I was there. Solar does not work very well without the sun.
THANKS a lot
Perhaps better solution would be to disconnect battery lead?
At least the suction cups held it to the windshield. LOL.
20 milliamp charge rate? thats shit, most cars have standard parasitic draw around 50-100ma. all this solar panel does is delay the inevitable. a flat battery
Lol
Just bought a 1watt one from the local hardware store.
The guy who worked their said he used it for his "Cessna 152" he said their practically useless for cars but if you own a small plane that sits in direct sunlight for a month at a time between flights it served its purpose of maintaining the battery.
You have to cut the blue LED lead, that will remove the fluctuation.
must suck living there