solar gadget

[belinda]

I bought a new gadget yesterday - a $50 solar trickle charger for the van called a BatterySAVER SE. You can see them on the website www.icpsolar.com. This one came from "Rays Camping" on Parramatta Road Camperdown (Sydney).

Basically it's a little panel that sticks in the window and trickle charges the battery. Our van is under cover but gets a lot of light during the day. For a van in a garage there would be enough cable to attach the panel to an outside wall.

Our problem has been that the battery charges from the car as we drive along, but in between trips it goes flat. We needed some system to keep the battery charged up all the time. The battery only has to run one 12v low-watt globe, so hopefully we will get enough sun during the day to play cards by at night.

Unfortunately it has rained ever since I got back from the shop. When the sun comes out I'll let you know how it goes.

cheers

Belinda

[Deleted]

Hi Belinda

A few people in the motorcycling fraternity use these gizmos to keep the battery topped up on thier old bikes. They sit the solar trickler in the shed window and the lead hooked up to the battery.
Some bikes only get ridden once every three months and they need to keep some sort of charge in them.
If left to go completely flat the life of the battery is greatly reduced.

From all reports they are a worthwhile investment.
Keep us posted on its efficiency.

Reddo - from up north a bit.

[belinda]

We've had the little solar panel for a couple of months now and it's been great. It didn't revive a completely falt battery - we used the 240v charger for that - but it's certainly keeping it topped up.

Our battery runs a high-efficency 12v globe we bought from the Rainbow Power Company at Nimbin and the van stays well-lit all evening.