Size of solar maintainer for car battery?
Had a 2.4W panel for $30 or so, on my truck while in storage. Seemed to be adequate at latitude 27 with plenty of sun and almost no clouds. Flat on the roof. Didn't worry much because the battery was...
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Not sure I'd bother to upgrade from a 2.4W panel to a measly 5W panel. According to my calculations, the 5W panel would trickle charge your 12.8V battery at ~ 400mA. By my estimate/guess that is about 0.4% of that new battery's AH capacity. The 2.4W panel probably charges at about < 200mA . Neither one of them are in any danger of overcharging your battery, and quite frankly I am dubious they could keep up with just a maintenance charge given they only work during the day, and your 'truck' probably has some parasitic draws on the battery like a clock, red LED security light?, engine computer, etc.
I'd probably be looking at a 10W panel for serious battery maintenance under your conditions - Latitude of 27 and probably cold .....
I'd probably be looking at a 10W panel for serious battery maintenance under your conditions - Latitude of 27 and probably cold .....
