solar panel not charging battery

I tried reversing the polarity on my panels but they still refuse to charge at night...

I wonder if he's allowed to vote...

I wonder if he's allowed to vote...

snook7 wrote:
I was putting on overhead lights directed towards solar panel in hopes of keeping battery charged. Doesn't seem to work.

Well, I have to admit this is the first time anyone's asked about that.

I suppose if you had a 1000w halogen lamp directly above the panel, you might see something. But then that would be crazy.

Gee wonder why they are called SOLAR Panels??

Conversion rate will be very poor.
My wag would be that you would be lucky to get 2% of the energy into the battery.
How many watts are the lamps?

beemerphile1 wrote:

smkettner wrote:
If you have electric power for the lights... just plug the RV in.

:B :S

What ?? Where is the challenge in that ??

smkettner wrote:
If you have electric power for the lights... just plug the RV in.

:B :S

You can pick up a RV 30A-15A LONG ADAPTER from WALMART where you can plug the trailer into the 120VAC 15A/20A RECEPTACLE in your barn. Looks like this



Be sure to use a HEAVY DUTY extension cord to run from the 120VAC receptacle to your trailer if you are not close enough to just plug the adapter directly into the receptacle.

This will also allow you to run most everything in your trailer but you do have to watch what you have on at the same time. i.e. running the air conditioner at the same time you turn on the microwave it will trip your barn breaker...

This will run your on-board converter/charger and lights real easy... If your on-board converter/charger is NOT a smart mode type unit you will have to watch your battery fluids every couple of weeks or so. The constant 13.6VDC being produced by NON smart mode type converters are known to boil out your battery fluids over time.

Also DO NOT use these round type RV 30A-15A adapters as they are known to get hot on you...


Roy Ken

Forget the lights, the problem is not enough Moon beams at night in that barn. :)

( Do check out how solar panels work, such as "irradiance" amounts for a real answer)