solar panel to charge spare battery

[satchmoshaz]

Hi experts has anyone used a solar panel to charge a spare battery. My "leisure" battery is a spare car battery. whats the best way to keep it topped up. I have looked at some solar panels on ebay and they are quite cheap

[wheelmon]

Hi Satchmoshaz, I'm no expert but I can say that I have used a solar panel (30watts I think) for a number of years and it has kept my leisure battery charged as required. The longest time on one site (and without driving off my pitch) has been 1 week without EHU. The green ("fully charged") light on my battery was lit at the end of the week. I was using the laptop for TV,DVD player, and on line so the its battery was being charged regularly, along with charging the electric razor, camera battery, mob phone, and satnav (which,by the way, I used for reference whilst cycling - useful in France!). Also lighting and water pump. My leisure battery has a small inverter permanently wired up (only 300watts but quite useful).

Having found the solar panel handy in the past, I fixed it to Romahome roof at the beginning of this year to avoid leaving it lying around outside the 'van. It no doubt doesn't help with the aerodynamics but the convenience makes up for that!

By the way you would also need a voltage regulator for a solar panel over about 18watts. Your supplier would have these - in fact it may be part of a kit.

I dare say there are variations in quality and probably in efficiency. I bought mine from a reputable caravan accessory store - it's made for permanent outdoor use.

Keith