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Solar battery charger

rtadams89

Member
209
3
18
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Note, this is not about a Solargizer, but rather about a true float-charger setup.

I have some Optima blue-top batteries in my truck, and on occasion I run a bunch of stuff off those batteries without the truck engine running. Instead of driving the truck around aimlessly periodically to recharge them, I was considering making a solar float charger out of stuff already on my shelf.

I have a 24v, 10w solar panel very similar to this one (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UUTG1O) and a solar charge controller similar to this one (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073WQC558).

Theoretically, I should be able to wire this up to my battery bank and use it to keep the batteries topped off without risk of over-charging them. Anyone with experience with this style of charge controller (I see a ton of what look like the same thing on ebay/amazon, so I assume they are all the same thing underneath)? Any complaints?

More importantly, should I expect the solar panel to get enough sunlight if it mount it flat on my hardtop, or should I keep it free standing and build an adjustable stand for it?
 
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