solar charger for wheelhouse

[walleyeRyummy]

Thinking about permanently mounting a solar charger on my wheel house to keep my batteries in check......anyone have any experience with these set-ups? any tips/advice would be great!

[peerchking]

you can get 15 watt (1 amp) at nortern for about $100 But one amp didn't do the job for me so I went to two, that did ok but two years ago I put the third one on and I havnt had to take battery in for charging. With checking out the news every night on the tv and running the lights the three amp charge during the day keeps the battery right up there

[walleyeRyummy]

how many batteries are you charging perchking? i am thinking i will run 2 or 3 batteries and will be occasionally using the generator....

any one else out there have any experience with solar charging?

should i just get a marine onboard charger and use that when i am using the generator??

[Ed Carlson]

Northern Tool had a 5 watt solar panel marked down on special...might still be still going today yet...worth pricing out. I think I got an e-mail flier on it just yesterday because I ordered a new drill and a bit set? Not sure if it was a Cyber-Monday only thing, or not?

[eyemaster]

I would look at Harbor Freight they seem to have better prices. I have one 15 amp panel at the lake. I would use the battery in my camper over the weekend and then let it charge over the week (I didn't have electricity at the time). It would not fully charge the battery in a weeks time. I would buy at least two 15 watt panels.

[cold one sd]

I have an on board charger and use a generator.

[bassislife]

Your better off spending $170 for a Power Coverter that will charge your batteries with a generator for a few hours then spending a few hundred bucks on solar panels.

If your batteries are dead it may take a couple of weeks to charge them with solar. Your generator will charge them thru the power converter in a couple hours while your watching TV!

I have a 45 amp Power Converter from Fish House Supply with a 2000 honda. Great set up!

[slurpie]

Tried it once Not as good as one would think. You would need to spend a fair amount to get a good charge. Like posted before 1 amp dont cut it at all. Cant remember what brand i had but not worth it. Could look into a small wind charger? always a breeze out there.

[eyemaster]

I think they are worth every penny, you just need to make sure that you have enough juice to keep the batteries charged. Cheaper than buying the generator, on board charger and gas. Then you have to also consider the pain of hauling the generator around every time.

Just my opinion.

[peerchking]

I just use one HD deep cycle and the three (15 watt=3 amp)solar panels keep it charged just fine. this is a house that stays on one lake it does not travel very far and does not get used every day. Now when we go from lake to lake or up to red or LOW for the weekend then go with genarator and charger so you dont run out of power. I guess what I'm saying is it depends on what your needs are.

[walleyeRyummy]

thanks for all the feedback.....i decided to start out with an onbard charger and see how my battery usage goes....i have a generator and will have to keep it with until i get a feel for how the battries hold up....