SOLAR PANELS FOR VEHICLES

ENSURE YOUR BATTERIES ALWAYS HAVE A FULL CHARGE 

Have you ever parked up your vehicle for a couple of days and returned to find that your battery is flat?

The battery is often overlooked and we never give it a second thought until the vehicle won't start.

With the advent of modern technology most vehicles have some sort of device that continuously draws current from the batteries, even when the engine is switched off!  Without even knowing it your batteries go flat and you wake up to find a flat battery, cursing the fact that you cannot get your vehicle started.

It is bad enough when your own car battery goes flat, but just imagine if a police car, local bus, fire engine, ambulance, or some other emergency vehicle had a flat battery!  Not only is it inconvienient, but could be life threating as well! 

So how do we keep batteries fully charged? 

There are threeSsimple ways to ensure that the battery is kept charged.

Option 1 - use a battery charger.  Simple enough!  Connect the battery to a battery charger and your batteries will remain topped up.  Great, if you have access to a battery charger - it needs a mains supply - and that the vehicle is parked close to the charge point.

Option 2 - use a wind turbine.  These are ideal for caravans, RV's, motorhomes and permanent (static) caravans.  Small wind turbines will keep the batteries topped up providing that the wind turbine is installed in an open space with good airlflow.  Small wind turbines are pretty good for all year round charging, but do not work very well, if at all, in an urban or suburban environment.

Option 3 - use a solar panel.  Installing solar panels onto the vehicle is simple and easy!  The solar panels are generally installed onto the roof of the vehicle and connected via a charge controller to the battery.  Solar panels depend upon solar irradiation and although they work well during the Summer months they do not work as well in Winter.

Regardless of your preferred charging method it is important that you know the condition and state of charge of your batteries at any time.  To do that you should have some form of battery indicator or battery monitor.

There is a huge difference between battery indicators and battery monitors.

A battery indicator is a simple, analogue or digital display, that provides a guide to the state of the battery, is it fully charged, half charged or flat; or an indication of the battery voltage.  Analogue meters are good for visual display, but tell you nothing about the actual state of the battery.   Battery indicators are very common, very cheap and very simple.

On the other hand, battery monitors - note the term monitor, unlike indicators,are very sophisticated and go a lot further by allowing batteries to be better read and therfore better understood.

 If you are experiencing flat batteries then please get in touch.

Bright Green Energy Ltd has designed, supplied and installed a wide range of Off-grid (battery power) systems.  We have installed solar panels on a wide range of vehicles and welcome your emails or telephone calls.

Don't hesitate to get in touch.