What To Look For In a Solar Battery Charger
There are a few questions you have to ask yourself when looking at solar powered battery chargers. Because the come in many shapes and sizes and differing voltage outputs. The first question you will want to ask is what am I going to be using this on.
For car batteries you are going to want to select a charger that has a voltage out put of 13.5 to 14.25 volts. The reason you are on going to want to go wiht a higher voltage than this is that most automotive batteries are designed to take a charge at these output levels. Chargeing your battery to fast can damage it making it unable to hold a charge.
Next why do i need a charger. Most people use solar batery chargers to keep a charge on a battery on a boat or r.v. through the winter when they are not using it. For these applications you are going to want a low voltage output that maintains the charge. Rather than a mid to high level output for chargeing a dead battery.
When useing a solar pannel to maintain a charge over the winter you should attach a voltage regualtor to prevent over charge, as this will also damage your battery. There are alot of kits that include the voltage regualtor with the pannel makeing those a more viable option for the novice.
These solar charges also offer a viable option for those long remote camping and boating trips we all love so much in the summer. Allowing you to charge your r.v.’s battery while spending the day on the boat to come home to a full battery and an evening of fun and enjoyment without runnign your generator.
The major advantages to using solar power for the maintance or charging of batteries. Is one there is no polution or draw from the grid making it free once it is set up. Secondly the freedom to use solar energy in any location makes this a great option for people that store thier summer toys in a remote location where there is limited or no power sources.
