Jere Lull wrote:
In article uVSyg.273940$IK3.20678@pd7tw1no,
Gary wrote:


Is anyone familiar with "self regulating solar panels"? I would like
to hear from someone who has installed one without a regulator and
how well it keeps the batteries up.


Not sure what size you're talking, but we have a 12w panel on our 120AH
(used one-at-a-time) banks. It keeps the active battery up quite well
for mostly 3-day weekends with a few multi-week trips each season. We
have full voltage after 4-5 days away, almost never start the engine to
charge, and the panel will bring a flat battery up enough to start our
Yanmar 2GM by mid-morning.

In two seasons, it brought a weak battery back to life, yet I need to
add much less water than I did before.

We're quite happy with the system.

Our demands are obviously light, so you mileage may vary.

Thanks for the on topic response. The panel I have is a 46 watt panel
and I will be running it into two 100 amp batteries. It produces a
maximum voltage of 14.6 and maximum of 3.6 amps. I was wondering just
how self regulating it would be. Do you leave yours on all the time?

Gary