Will a 1.5 watt solar panel keep a battery charged?
Question:
Answer:
On it's own, no. You'll also need at least a rudimentary charge controller, to avoid over-charging. The simple "voltage regulator" from a car will do, if you are talking about a 12V battery
no...it wil over charge the battery.just disconect the battery befor storage...
check your parasitic drain with everything off, to be sure your not drawing more than its charging. that would be a bad drain, but i suppose it possible. beyond that, it would eventually overcharge if you dont have it on a auto/shutoff type of controller. why not a battery tender, a cheap little battery charger which just keeps it up to charge? check em out.
Firstly it should not overcharge your battery, it may help to lessen the discharge that occurs naturally over time. Equally a decent solar panel charger shouldn't drain power from the battery, they're fitted with diodes to prevent power flowing the wrong way (back into the charger). However in my usage of them I've found them fairly ineffective with quite a high risk of failing and flattening your battery. If you really want to keep a battery charged in a vehicle left for long periods, use a maintenance charger powered off the mains.
I have a hard time understanding how this unit that puts out 120 mA. can do any harm especially if the vehicle has a clock or something that take some power.
i have a 4 watt pannel on the roof of my caravan which keeps my battery charged while i'm not using it or when i'm on holiday using it. A 1.5 one will be fine at doing the job your on about.
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