Solar Topup

[mentadent]

I'm thinking of giving one of these a try:

Solar Power Panel 12V/1.5W | SPP01 | 1 Year Guarantee | Sealey

Amorphous solar panel converts daylight directly into 12V electricity. Suitable for maintaining charge in a wide range of batteries and power packs.

www.sealey.co.uk

I'm not expecting it to keep my camera running indefinitely, but might keep the battery topped up.

 

[SawMaster]

I'm thinking of giving one of these a try:

Solar Power Panel 12V/1.5W | SPP01 | 1 Year Guarantee | Sealey

Amorphous solar panel converts daylight directly into 12V electricity. Suitable for maintaining charge in a wide range of batteries and power packs.

www.sealey.co.uk

I'm not expecting it to keep my camera running indefinitely, but might keep the battery topped up.

Seems to be more a "battery maintainer" than a "battery charger". If that's the case then you probably won't see any difference when using it, as maintainers generally operate at a lower voltage than charging requires so as to not overcharge the battery in extended use. They also have a very limited charging capacity needing only to overcome storage losses. That listed 1.5W ain't much juice.

Phil

 

[TonyM]

Do you think it could slow charge a LiFePO4 battery like the PowerCore 6200LFP? Just an idea - I doubt the battery was designed to be charged that way.

 

[mentadent]

I'll see what happens if I ever get around to it. I need a new car battery first anyway mine is 6 years old and just showed signs of failure.

 

[SawMaster]

I'll see what happens if I ever get around to it. I need a new car battery first anyway mine is 6 years old and just showed signs of failure.

You've done well to see 6 years. I hope you find your preferred replacement has just been heavily discounted on sale

Phil

 

[Nigel]

I wouldn't bother with only 1.5W. Put it behind glass and you half that = 0.75W, then the sun is not out at night, and even when it is out, your panel is more likely to be in shade than in full sun, so the most you will get is about equivalent to 3 hours per day of the full 0.75W, 3 hours is an 8th of a day, so 0.75 / 8 = 0.09375W average, x the 24 hours = 2.25Wh of charge per day. A typical dual channel dashcam uses around 75Wh per day, so 2.25Wh is not going to make much difference, well a little difference, an extra 40 minutes ... maximum, if you park with the panel in full sun all day.

 

[mentadent]

You've done well to see 6 years. I hope you find your preferred replacement has just been heavily discounted on sale

Phil

79.99 from 99.99 on eBay from a researched good store woopwoop

 

[mentadent]

New battery keeps charge. The old one would go down to 11.95V with nothing using it lolz.