Description
Over time batteries naturally lose power and, if allowed to, can go flat. Renogy’s 5W solar trickle charger will help you maintain a healthy battery by converting solar energy into a usable 12V DC current to keep your battery topped off at a stable level. With a quick SAE connection and 3 options for ring terminals, alligator clips, and cigarette lighters, our solar trickle charger is sure to be a great fit no matter what your application needs. It works great with boats, SUVs, RVs, electric fences, accessory batteries, and much more! Maintain a healthy battery and never be caught flat ever again! Note: For some makes or models of vehicles, the cigarette lighter port may not operate when the ignition is turned off. In such cases, please connect the trickle charger maintainer to the battery directly. The trickle charger maintainer must be disconnected from the battery or cigarette lighter port when starting the engine or driving the vehicle. Electric surges from the alternator when starting and running may damage the trickle charger maintainer.
Michael –
I would expect something labeled “battery maintainer” to have some smarts in it to control the charging. But it’s less than twenty bucks so probably no room in the budget for brains. Renogy does include a 12 V adapter to plug this into your car’s 12 V outlet, a couple of battery clips to attach directly to a 12 V battery, and a set of wires with ring terminals if you want a more solid connection.
While this is a good set with well-built parts, it puts out an extremely low amperage. For example, if you wanted to charge a small battery for a trolling motor, it would takes 3-4 sunny days to accomplish this.
If you left this on your dashboard, it could not keep up with your battery’s discharge from the car’s computers & infotainment system. It would help a tiny bit, but not too much. I would suggest something at least 10 W.
The panel itself is well thought out and comes with suction cups (and a replacement set of suction cups), carabiners for hanging the panel, and a couple of elastic straps, too. The flaps that hold the suction cups are cleverly arranged so you can have them on the back or sides of the panel.
It is not waterproof so sticking it on the inside of the windshield with the suction cups looks like the way to go.
LeaC –
This 5-watt 18 volt outdoor portable solar panel batter charger is small in size and feels like is made with durable materials. There are water resistant nylon that protects the device from moisture and mold, so don’t leave it in the rain or submerge it or it will die. you get most everything you need to charge things on the go, which is why we will store this in our camping bag or our emergency go bag. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it could use an attachment for computers and or cellphones to charge. other than that this is a handy device.
MrMatt –
Great kit! comes with all the atachment you will ned to connect to a battery. Comes with suction cups and a easy to read instruction book. Max output is 18 dc volts and 8kw. I measured this with a volt meter and got 16 dc volts. But I was not getting full dun it was a little overcast. Anti scratch surbace and easy to clean. I do wish it came with a USB so I can charge my portable or battery jump packs. Watch my video for more info
eeewee –
Here we have an excellent solar battery maintainer solution for outdoor applications. This solar panel is rigid and weatherproof, and has industry standard SAE connectors on it. This panel ships with 2 sets of 4 suction cups, 2 carabiners, and 3 output connection wires. The suction cups can be used to attach it to a windshield,and the carabiners could be used to clip it to a backpack. It has an electrical connection to a cigar lighter, ring terminals for direct connection to the battery, and a pair of alligator clips. The ring terminals are .325″ inner diameter, large enough to fit a 3/16″ screw. The output is unregulated, basically regulated by the battery it is charging. It charged my little camper battery in a few hours on a cloudy day! Instructions say keep it away from water, but it should be fine outside since there are no electronics. I think they mean don’t submerge it. Nice little solar panel!
Tommy D –
This is a complete kit with everthing you need to get started. The solar panel measures 7”x 11” and is only about a 1/8 inch thick and is practically weightless. The mounting options included are suction cups and carabiner clips giving you many options to keep this in direct sunlight. The charge cord is attached to the solar panel and is about 38.5” in length. The cords connections are SAE style quick connects, and the leads add 24” for a total cord lenght of over 62 inches long. The package comes with 3 seperate leads, including alligator style clips for connections to a automotive battery, also included are ring style terminals ( with connection cover) for more permanent conntections to batteries, and also a connector to plug into your cigarette lighter outlet.
With only 8 watts and 0.44 amps of current, this lightweight, compact solar panel is best suited for use as a trickle charger/maintainer to keep charged automotive style batteries topped off. This works perfectly outdoors and for boats, RVs, campers or other equipment stored outdoors where a regular power connection is unavailable. This can also be used on the dashboard for classic cars.
Mark –
It turned out that I couldn’t use it for the application I had in mind.
stick –
Quality seemed decent. No surprises. Haven’t checked voltage output yet.
ss –
This Battery Maintainer works quite well, and seems to be well made. I was not able to get the rated 8 watts out of it, but it is late fall and the sun is low in the sky. The best I was able to get was 2.5 watts, which is still decent. There is a 24 inch cord with a 2 prong plug that is attached to the actual solar panel and then each of the connectors that plug into the solar panel plug is about 24 inches long. It has three connectors one with eyelets to hook straight to the battery, one with battery clamps, and one with a cigarette lighter plug. Each of the connectors seem to be of decent but not outstanding quality. It also has 2 carabiner style clips to hang it. The battery connector cord has a cap attached that will cover the plug when the maintainer is not connected, that is a nice touch. The two prong plugs are a little harder to plug and unplug than I would like, but should keep the moisture out. And I would like to have seen a little longer cords. The panel is about 7 1/2″ wide by 11 1/4 ” long, the mounting holes are about 10 1/4 by 6 1/4″. The max voltage with no load is about 23 volts. When hooked to a battery it seems to stabilize at about 13 volts (give or take) depending on the sun and the length of time it has been hooked up. All in all seems to do just what it is supposed to do, keep your battery from going dead while sitting. Note, if your battery has any substantial draw it will not keep the battery up.