solar panel(s)

[rallye bob]

I would like to get some "real world" experience, from you racers that are using solar panel(s) to maintain the battery in your trailers. What do you use and how did you hook it up?
I am looking at a small maintainer/charger. Do you always need to use a charge controller, to prevent overcharging your batt?
My batt. (Optma yellow top) is hooked to the tow vehicle charge system, when I am running down the road, but I would like to keep the batt. up at the track, and when I have the trailer idle at home. TIA

[tj310]

Solar panels work, just not very well. Would you try to use solar to recharge your race batteries ? Are you the same guy that posted this question on the bullet ? ---Trevor

[rallye bob]

Originally Posted by tj310

Are you the same guy that posted this question on the bullet ? ---Trevor

I'm not the OP on the bullet, but I have posted on the thread....... http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh...=481735&page=2

[Tony Curcio]

The bigger the panel(s), the more wattage they'll produce. You won't keep your battery charged with a single 30" X 60" panel if you are running a weather station, lights, a radio, etc.. It will recharge it eventually as you drive down the road (assuming you mount it on the roof), or while sitting in the driveway.

Here's something that caught my eye- flexible roof panels. Each one is 15 inches wide and 16 feet long. They have an adhesive back, intended for mounting on hard surfaces like a trailer roof. Each roll produces 124 watts, so eight of these will make about as much wattage as a small portable generator. These flexible panels are not as efficient as glass panels, but they are cheaper. Here's a link to a vendor's description on E-Bay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_2335wt_928

[voltdr]

Originally Posted by Tony Curcio

The bigger the panel(s), the more wattage they'll produce. You won't keep your battery charged with a single 30" X 60" panel if you are running a weather station, lights, a radio, etc.. It will recharge it eventually as you drive down the road (assuming you mount it on the roof), or while sitting in the driveway.

Here's something that caught my eye- flexible roof panels. Each one is 15 inches wide and 16 feet long. They have an adhesive back, intended for mounting on hard surfaces like a trailer roof. Each roll produces 124 watts, so eight of these will make about as much wattage as a small portable generator. These flexible panels are not as efficient as glass panels, but they are cheaper. Here's a link to a vendor's description on E-Bay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_2335wt_928

These are 24V.................

[rallye bob]

I purchased this unit at my local Farm & Fleet, along with a 10 amp controller...
I will give it a try and report back.........
http://www.wirthco.com/watt-solar-pa...1128-l-en.html