I knew a motor officer that had one mounted ontop the trunk. He said it helped keep his batteries up. He had a 1 amp charger and would cut off when battery was charged not to overcharge. I want to attach one under my rack on my 4 wheeler to keep the battery up, especially if you are in the field and using the winch.

 

I park in a parking garage that is lit 24/7. I know that florescent lighting is not as efficient as natural sunlight when it comes to solar panels (think about your solar powered calculators) but does anyone know if the florescent would generate enough power over a 24 hour a day period to keep the battery charged? Would be interested if someone has one and can stick a voltmeter to it in their garage.

I know theft is an issue, but can probably deal with that.

 

It would depend on the size of the solar panel and how close the panel is to the light. And the light would have to be pretty bright at the panel's location.

 

I've got one someplace in the garage that I bought at NAPA a few years back. I use to leave my cage at the office in Phoenix and be gone for months at a time. Normally when I got back my battery would be dead due to the heat down there. After buying the solar battery charger I never had a problem. I'll see if I can find it. Seems like I paid around $25.00 for it.

 

Granger has a good selection of solar chargers. I install them on the top of our semi's as we only put like 500 miles a year on them and the battery's are like $120 a piece. Work great!

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/eca...subset&sort=DD

 

Well this doesn't happen very often. I went out in the garage and went straight to it! It usually takes me a couple hours to find anything out there.

Anyway, here is a pic of the charger and the instruction section that tells how much it puts out. It has a plug that will plug into the type used by the H-D battery tenders or you can use the cigarette plug or alligator clips that come with it.

Hope this helps some.

 

Here is one for 61 bux from Bill

 

I use the exact same one as IronAss. Works great.

 

a 5 watt is all you need. you can get them at most any auto parts store. Tractor Supply has them. The bigger ones need a regulator.