Solar powered trickle charger

[skodakm27]

I do very low mileage in my karoq edition 2ltr dsg 4x4  and because the car stands unused for ling periods i find a lot of the functions on the car do not work because the car battery is not at the required  charge level due to standing for long periods. I want to ask if anyone has any experience of solar powered trickle chargers and would they resolve my problem and also how i would have to connect one to solve my problem.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Regards Keith 

[SuperbTWM]

What functions are you missing out on?

 

You might get a decent trickle out of one in summer but in winter it would be pointless, buy a smart charger instead

[silver1011]

If the engine is running i.e. the battery has the power to start the engine, then the only feature you'll miss out on is the stop/start function.

 

A failing battery might be the least of your worries. Cars do not like to be stood idle for prolonged periods. Hopefully of the few journey's you're able to make, a few of them are longer allowing the engine to get up to temperature and the DPF to regenerate from time-to-time.

 

As above, a smart charger would make more sense. They've come down a lot recently. Your Karoq will be fitted with an AGM battery so make sure whatever charger you buy, it is compatible.

[silver1011]

On 30/01/2019 at 20:37, silver1011 said:

If the engine is running i.e. the battery has the power to start the engine, then the only feature you'll miss out on is the stop/start function.

 

I was wrong, sorry.

 

It seems that even with the engine running, if the car deems the state of the battery insufficient for certain electrical operations, they will in fact become inoperative...

 

 

[skodakm27]

I appreciate all the replies you have all been so good to have taken to make, but what i was really hoping was for comments from anyone who has any practical use of solar powered trickle chargers and  whether they felt they would be useful to help with my circumstances. 

Thanks to you all. 

Keith 

[Breezy_Pete]

I bought one a decade or so back that was rated at 1.5W, which is a theoretical 100mA output approx. In bright summer sunlight directly facing the sun flat on the dashboard behind the windscreen it managed (measured in series) approximately 10mA. This is approximately half the typical quiescent current of a car; so would slow down, but not stop charge loss in those best case conditions.

I didn't bother moving it to my next car.

 

A quick look on ebay suggests the same type is still available, and I imagine will still be disappointing people all over the place.

 

 

Edited 1 February, 2019 by Wino

[STREE]

@skodakm27 Our's is a Superb but I've recently been looking into this as our battery keeps draining. Was fine for the first year and then suddenly had warnings on the computer saying that it was low and things stopped working. Had the dealership check it and they put it down to short miles / leaving it standing. They recharged it and only 40 days later the warnings were back. This time just had the battery replaced, however in the meantime I was looking at charging options as we cannot use a mains charger due to not parking by our house so solar was the only option. I have bought a 15w panel and regulator and fitted it to our parcel shelf. It plugs into the 12v socket in the boot. I don't know if Karoqs have one? Only time will tell if this works but it's designed for 12v batteries and from the chat I had with them they said it will so fingers crossed.

 

https://www.sunshinesolar.co.uk/Item/SSP15P

https://www.sunshinesolar.co.uk/Item/REG7

 

I see they do a smaller/cheaper 10w kit now but it doesn't appear to come with a 12v connector.

 

It's plug and play. I bought 5m of velcro from Amazon and cut it up as required, holds the panel down using 4 mounting holes on the back and also holds all the wiring and regulator. 

 

I can post pics if you want but obviously we have a different model of car so not sure how much use they will be to you.

 

 

[skodakm27]

Thanks for your info.

I looked on a lot of sites to find a solar power system suitable for maintaining a full battery charge and all the reviews I read were of the opinion that they will not charge the battery sufficient to run the functions which require a fully charged battery. I would be very interested to hear your results and opinion when you feel you are able to make a considered comment.

Hope it works well for you  ttfn

 

[jjc]

keep an eye on Aldi, they have a good one that my friend uses to keep his motorhome charged and it works very well all year.

 

John