I am considering a solar charger on my pontoon for the one trolling battery (size 27) since panels seem so inexpensive. Preliminary research shows the smaller $25 units only put out up to 5 watts and likely will only maintain a battery at best.
Seems like the 100 watt units are where I should begin? Anyone know anything about it?
How long does it take to recharge your battery after a use, with a plug in charger. A typical plug in charger charges with from 4 to 10 amps or with 48 to 120 watts.
If it takes 8 hours to recharge your trolling motor battery with a 4 amp plug in charger, it will take about 76 hours of direct sunlight on your 5 watt solar panel charger. Assuming you get 8 hours of direct sun a day, about 9 days of solar charging for every trolling outing.
Seems like the 100 watt units are where I should begin? Anyone know anything about it?
I’ve been researching the same thing for my camper at my hunting property.
I think you are on the right track, to reliably CHARGE a battery that has been depleted through heavier use, I came to the same conclusion–you need at least 100 watts of panel power.
The way I researched it, I came to the conclusion that with a 100 AHR battery, 100 watts of panel power, considering our latitude and average sunlight outside of peak months, it would realistically take a couple of days to recover from a 75% drain.
Given that and the fact that I use the trailer in the spring/fall as well, my conclusion was that 200 watts was going to be required if I wanted to come anywhere close to “next day” recovery on a single battery during these “off-peak” times of year.
Maintainers are great for the starting batteries, I have one on my tractor and one on my ATV and even though the tractor sat covered outdoors all winter, it cranked for 3 seconds before firing up this spring.
Let us know what you end up with.
Grouse
My application is for weekend to weekend and maybe 25-50% discharge on the weekend. I only use it some on Fri/Sat/Sun max. Seems like a perfect scenario to use solar so I dont have to drag the extension cord out there. I would like to find one that has mounting brackets to use on the pontoon so its a permanent fixture. And obviously water proof panel.
You might want to look into DuraVolt chargers. I did some research and found that many if not most of the cheaper chargers aren’t worth the money or time. I have one (paid $20 or so) that I used to keep a snowmobile battery charged, but it usually just discharged it instead. So I looked into DuraVolt and just purchased a system to keep a generator battery charged. They make some specific for marine applications and are widely used on bouys. Worth a look … https://www.duravolt.net/
,,,,,,,,,but it usually just discharged it instead.
This can be true for low dollar setups. One needs a “charge controller” between the solar panel and the battery/batteries being charged. The controller prevents overcharging as well as back feeding (discharging) during low light periods.
Expect to pay 300 t0 400 or more for a good system. One example
The setup I just purchased from Duravolt includes an 8W .5 amp charger, primarily a maintainer, plus a controller – $175. They say it will charge a smaller battery, such as for jet ski, etc. I’m sure larger ones will cost in the range you mention.
I once saw a slick setup where the guy’s canopy cover was a solar panel.
I need to take some measurements on my pontoon next time Im up. The more useful size panels are larger and I want the install on the watercraft always connected rather than on the dock. One I have my eye on is 40″ x 26″.
Why not just bury a line to the dock, renting a small trencher is cheap and using underground wire, should only take a few hours to put in.
Why not just bury a line to the dock, renting a small trencher is cheap and using underground wire, should only take a few hours to put in.
Well, if you go this route, just be really, really, really sure everything is done to code with GCFIs. Electricity, water, metal docks, yikes.
Every year people in the US die in marinas where shorepower cords get dropped or kicked into the water. In theory, all the code issues should have been addressed years ago, but things didn’t get upgraded or fail.
Grouse
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
