Has anyone used or heard of anything positive regarding those new solar
powered battery chargers? I would like to put a second battery in my boat
but don`t want the hassle of taking it out to charge.

jj

These have been around for years.

They work on the photo-voltaic principle and are foolproof unless
damaged.
It will take a lot of square footage to bring up a seriously discharged
battery in an acceptable period of time. A small section can be useful
for keeping a reasonably well charged battery "topped off".

How does the first battery charge in your boat? Off the engine?
Assuming any sort of output from your alternator it wouldn't be that
tough to charge both batteries at the same time. Proper switching will
allow you to isolate the "starting" battery at anchor or other times
the engine might be off and thereby ensure that you won't be "dead in
the water" when you want to restart.

"JJ" wrote in message news
Has anyone used or heard of anything positive regarding those new solar
powered battery chargers? I would like to put a second battery in my boat
but don`t want the hassle of taking it out to charge.

jj



You will need about a 50 watt panel for each standard sized 12v battery.
You will also need a charge controller.

Photovoltaics are the way to go in my opinion. I have four 55 watt panels
atop my bimini on my yacht and four deep cycle batteries and a charge
controller. I run refrigeration, laptops, lights, fans, anchor light, charge
cell phones, run all boat electronics and running lights and haven't had
to use my little Yamaha portable generator for over three years.

The sun supplies all my power needs. There is no noise to bother other boaters
and no moving parts to wear out. Initial cost is a little steep but the panels
are guaranteed for ten to twelve years. Unless you break them, they work
almost for a lifetime. And the best thing of all is can holler, "**** you
oil baron assholes!"

CN

Please don't talk about my AWOL president and his ilk like that....

Capt. Jeff

On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 17:03:36 -0700, "JJ" wrote:

Has anyone used or heard of anything positive regarding those new solar
powered battery chargers? I would like to put a second battery in my boat
but don`t want the hassle of taking it out to charge.

They seem to work, from what I've been reading. Depends how much
power you need. A small 5 watt solar panel might produce about 0.4
amps. So if the boat's system draws down 10 amps during a sail, then
the panel needs at least 10/0.4 = 25 hours to recharge the battery.
That works fine for a small day-sailer with intermittent use.

Some panels are not suitable for outdoor use.

More powerful panels need staged charging devices between the panels
and the battery, to prevent overcharge.

J

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 17:03:36 -0700, "JJ" wrote:

Has anyone used or heard of anything positive regarding those new solar
powered battery chargers? I would like to put a second battery in my boat
but don`t want the hassle of taking it out to charge.

They seem to work, from what I've been reading. Depends how much
power you need. A small 5 watt solar panel might produce about 0.4
amps. So if the boat's system draws down 10 amps during a sail, then
the panel needs at least 10/0.4 = 25 hours to recharge the battery.
That works fine for a small day-sailer with intermittent use.

Some panels are not suitable for outdoor use.

More powerful panels need staged charging devices between the panels
and the battery, to prevent overcharge.

J

A couple of years ago, they caught a person here in the SF Bay area, who was
stealing the solar panels on the highway emergency phones. He was using
them to heat his hot tub. Lots o slar panels give lots of energy, and if
you steal them you get to meet / meat Bubba.

Tamaroak wrote:
Please don't talk about my AWOL president and his ilk like that....

Capt. Jeff


Good one!

Bill McKee wrote:
"Jim Thompson" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 17:03:36 -0700, "JJ"
wrote:

Has anyone used or heard of anything positive regarding those new
solar
powered battery chargers? I would like to put a second battery in
my boat
but don`t want the hassle of taking it out to charge.

They seem to work, from what I've been reading. Depends how much
power you need. A small 5 watt solar panel might produce about 0.4
amps. So if the boat's system draws down 10 amps during a sail,
then
the panel needs at least 10/0.4 = 25 hours to recharge the battery.
That works fine for a small day-sailer with intermittent use.

Some panels are not suitable for outdoor use.

More powerful panels need staged charging devices between the
panels
and the battery, to prevent overcharge.

J

A couple of years ago, they caught a person here in the SF Bay area,
who was
stealing the solar panels on the highway emergency phones. He was
using
them to heat his hot tub. Lots o slar panels give lots of energy,
and if
you steal them you get to meet / meat Bubba.

Or be met (meated?) BY Bubba!