solar chargers ?

[mschott]

I was curious if anybody here had any experience with them .Any pros or cons.

just an example....

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true

[big easy]

I use two small (5 watt each I think)solar chargers while I'm away from the boat.They seem to do the job very well,as the batteries are always up to power after I've been away for a while.

I usually take the month of June off from the lake,and return to fish it from the 2nd week of July until the end of August,so the longest the batteries sit unused is about six weeks.I remove the batteries in the winter.

I leave the chargers on the cooler on the swim platform which gets good sun,and I attach them with bungees.The chargers also have a diode in them to protect the batts from discharging.I'm satisfied with them.The engine always turns over quick when I return to the boat after a spell.They're easy to store and take up very little space.

I bought mine at a automotive swap meet at a fairgrounds for 10.00 bucks each.Check out Harbor Freight,they may have some cheapies.

[Jack]

I have a 12 volt motor on my boat hoist to lift the boat and have a 5 watt solar panel hooked up to the battery at the end of the dock. It goes the whole season and battery always has plenty of charge. I am very happy with the 5 watt panel. I bought mine at Northern Tool on sale for $39.00. If you get to big of a panel you may need a regulator so you don't over charge your battery.

Good Luck !

JT

[JR]

I had a 1.5 watt on my boat when i use to dock it so when the Bilge pump would run from all the rain we had that year and it always kept the batteries charged from weekend to weekend to no problem .