Charging a Car Battery with a Solar Panel and Charge Controller

[Farmer2492]

Hi I am going to buy a 120 watt to 200 watt solar panel to put on my camper trailer would I be able to use the charge controller also would the solar panels keep my battery charged and can I just leave the charge controller on so when day light comes it will start charging again what I used during the night. Regards Farmer

[julius256]

@Farmer2492 No. This charge controller can only be used with panels up to 100W. If you bought two 100W panels (and two PWM5 charge controllers) it would be OK. Leaving the controller connected all night is fine - it uses a tiny amount of current.

[954cityofdahood]

just to let you know 14.6 volt is not going to destroy your battery i can see around 15 v but not 14.6

[kruminjanis]

all i need for this to work i ... SUN... damn

[MrBrennanmoriarty]

Once your battery is safely charged, is there a specific component that serves as a "sleep button" so you radio or light stays on for ONLY 1 or 2 hr or say 20 minutes?

A brusker or street entertainer couldn't facinate people as much as seeing and understanding actual basic technology, it's shocking...lol- what is possible.

[SpeedManiac1976]

i have a battery trainer for car battery at home and i have a 12v to 220v converter for my sigarettelighter in my car, if i hook the battery trainer to that converter in my car while driving does it recharge my battery then ? i think so but not sure, been thinking about these solar pannels as well didnt know about that charge controller, very usefull video !!!

[sizmike]

Excellent, I wanted to try a direct PV to Batt connection but I was too scared.

[barnone11967]

Can you please tell me what kind of write is used to connect the solar panel to the battery and where you can get those cables.thank you very much.

[sonnyk58]

HI JULIUS!!BIG FAN OF UR VIDEOz!!!I WAS JUST WONDERING... IF I WANTED TO CONNECT 2 TO 4 BATTERIES TOGETHER WITH SOLAR PANELS... WOULD I STILL NEED THE "solar charge controller" BETWEEN PANELS AND BATTERY?PLEASE FORGIVE ME IF YOU HAVE POSTED A VIDEO ON THAT AS I WILL CHECK RIGHT AFTER POSTING THIS!!!THANK U

[Azureecosse]

Interesting i visited Africa and some indigenous tribes people use an old car battery for their lighting they use a Bog standard Solar panel with crocodile clips they dont use this modulator thing and it seems to work ok for them, i believe the battery was charged daily in this fashion and it had no adverse affects.

[julius256]

@Azureecosse That's OK if you are able to watch the battery closely and disconnect the solar panel when the battery is fully charged. If, however, you're busy doing other things, the charge controller protects the battery for you.

[EnderAcrobat17]

Could a system like this somehow "overcharge" the battery? Or would it simply stop charging when it is full?

[julius256]

@EnderAcrobat17 The purpose of the charge controller is to fully charge the battery, but never overcharge it. The controller gradually reduces the charge current as the battery reaches full charge. There is no charge current at night (of course).

[divud123]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! People need to really know this, instead of wasting money.

[julius256]

@MrS4L3HKH4N4 This is a 15W panel so it will charge at about 1 amp. A 48Ah battery will therefore take 48 hours to charge from completely flat. However you should never let a lead-acid battery run completely flat.

[IgnoredComment]

hi, i bought a solar panel from an auto reseller on ebay (not chinese), the description said it is for trickle charging battery, and there are a circuit board modulation behind the battery, do you think it is safe to charge the car battery without the controller?

I think there is an inbuilt controller

[julius256]

@IgnoredComment This is probably a 1 or 2 watt panel - it doesn't need a charge controller because the power output is feeble. Your battery will take forever to charge (if it charges at all).

[julius256]

you can get it from 256.co.uk - on the Shop page

[chrizvg]

wair can i get that Charge Controller