Thread: Use this to keep car battery alive?

One thought that came to mind is that it certainly isn't going to do you any good at night so thats reason enough not to seriously consider it. Second, I don't see any specs on how much power it can put out, but its not going to come anywhere close to putting out enough power to run your computer. I doubt it will even extend the time before your battery is discharged enough either to justify it. Do a google search on solar battery chargers. I saw a couple that looked the same or similar and the most they put out was less than 2 watts. You'd need around 50 of them (assuming you need something around 90W like the small Opus supply).

Probably such panels don't supply a lot current, so I think it is not useful... correct me if i'm wrong

USELESS. I have one. I bought it as an emergency battery recharger for if i get a flat battery in the missel of nowhere and theres no chance of a jump start or access to a charger. I trried it once on the car. 8 hrs chargeing and it didnt even charge the battery enough to crank the starter. I have tested it on a spare battery and it does charge it but VERY VERY slowly!!

These products are not meant to charge a dead battery or supply enough power to use any accessories. They are strictly meant for keeping a battery from discharging while in the vehicle is not in use. They are not meant for bringing a flat battery back to life. They're just trickle chargers. They'll serve that purpose well, but they will not work for what you're trying to do. The draw of your computer would soon discharge the battery and the solar charger would never keep up.

- Jeff

Originally Posted by jzgt

These products are not meant to charge a dead battery or supply enough power to use any accessories. They are strictly meant for keeping a battery from discharging while in the vehicle is not in use. They are not meant for bringing a flat battery back to life. They're just trickle chargers. They'll serve that purpose well, but they will not work for what you're trying to do. The draw of your computer would soon discharge the battery and the solar charger would never keep up.

- Jeff

roughly:
figure a really good solar cell gives about 10watts per square foot in very bright sunlight- given the price of this, maybe half that?
so one third of a square foot times 5w/ft around 1.5w in bright sun?

jzgt The one I got was actually called a Solar Car battery recharger and acording to the box that is what it was supposed to do, slowly charge a FLAT battery!

Originally Posted by PHoeNiX

jzgt The one I got was actually called a Solar Car battery recharger and acording to the box that is what it was supposed to do, slowly charge a FLAT battery!

Really? How big was that thing? Was it small like the one in the link at the top of this post?

- Jeff

Basically you'd need one to cover your roof to make a significant amount of power. Hmmm maybe slide on into your moon/sun roof, or you could line the truck bed with these but then the bed is useless for anything else.