Solar Battery Carger

[Roger Lohrey]

I have mounted a small 34 Amp hour battery up front in my cuddy for my trolling motor. I am thinking of using a solar battery charger to keep the battery charged when the boat is on the trailer. Has anyone used a solar battery charger? If so what make and model number are you using?

Thanks
Roger Lohrey

 

[senormechanico]

Charging the battery

I am assuming you aren't expecting to get enough power to motor for a long time, just mostly for maneuvering and fairly short jaunts. If that's all you're looking for, you don't need a very big solar panel. A 5 watt panel should suffice.

With a small panel like that, you don't even need a voltage regulator although they're not expensive.

If you want to permanently mount a panel, I'd recommend a flexible one mounted on the foredeck. Although they're not as efficient as monocrystalline or polycrystalline panels (with aluminum frames) they're shade tolerant and durable. You can even walk on them carefully without damage.

I have quite a bit of experience with solar systems on boats having cruised Mexico in the '90's. We ran the whole boat off a solar array. The new owner of Grey Max sailed it right back to Mexico. See the first letter in the March 2006 issue of Latitude 38 if interested.

Steve B.