Solar power is continuously gaining momentum and popularity. There are now solar chargers designed to power cell-phones, cars, laptops, etc. The solar charger harnesses energy form the sun and stores the energy within its battery for later use.
Typically, a solar charger can hold on to its charge for up to a year. The advantage to using a solar charger is that it eliminates all of those unnecessary, bulky chargers for every electronic device.
It may be difficult to choose between the best solar chargers because there are a lot of great models out there that basically perform the same functions. Upon being fully charged, the solar charger can fill a cell-phone’s life twice or play up to twenty hours of music.
Our top market selection includes:
- Go Power! GPDL-20 20-Watt Self Regulating Unbreakable Solar Module
- Sunforce 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit
- Brunton 26 Watt Foldable Solar Array
- HQRP 20W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel
Solar battery chargers 101
Keep in mind that Your panel will produce 100% full wattage output when placed on direct sunshine
Before buying a portable solar power system, it’s good to answer these questions:
- How long would the solar panel take to charge a 12 volt battery?
- What’s the ideal wattage for a solar charger?
- How can I control if it works fine?
- Will it fry my battery?
Most models have an illuminated LEDs that lets you know the panel is charging. Other have a built in controller to block the charge when the battery is full.
When You buy one, You’ll get quick connectors like cigarette lighter adaptors and battery clamps.

Choose the right solar recharger
To explain in further detail about the conversion, basically an hour of sunshine will equal about an hour of music, or 25 minutes of conversation. The batteries in most solar units last up to about a year, and the charger works with numerous gadgets: Bluetooth, iphone, games, digital cameras, etc.
The charger is extremely light and easy to transport making it optimal for travel purposes.
The General rule to calculate the average charge time:
Take Amp/hour rating of the battery and Divide by the charger rating (in amperes) and then add about 10% for the extra time to top off the battery
I.e. Assuming You have a typical full size auto battery, it is about 50 amp hours.
To Calculate how much time You’ll need to charge the battery with a 15 Watt solar charger You’ll need:
- Calculate the Ampere per hour of the charger: 15 Watts /12 Volts = 1,25 Amperes
- Calculate the division: 50 amp hours / 1,25 ampers = 40 Hours of direct sunlight
- Add 10%: 4 hours
A 15 watt charger is great for vehicles such as cars, boats, ATV’s, even electric fences. 7 watts are perfect for laptops and camcorders. A 2 watt charger is perfect for cell phones, ipods, and smaller cameras.
There is a formula to help describe the way solar energy works: the output for solar energy is described as watts. The wattage can be understood by multiplying the voltage by the amperage.
More specifically: volts x amps x watts = / e.g. a six volt 30 watt solar panel measuring ten by 22 inches has a voltage of about 8.55, and amperage of 1.75.
One can determine the correct amount of wattage needed based on how much each electronic device expels.
Solar Battery Controllers

In most case a solar charger controller is highly recommended. The Solar Controller will continuously monitor the charge and cut it off when charging is complete.
It helps in:
- Preventing overcharge
- Improve charge quality
- Prevent battery discharge in low or no light conditions.
Some solar panels are made with blocking diodes pre-installed they prevent battery discharge during low or no light conditions.
Once connected, you can charge your 12-volt battery nonstop for days without damaging the battery.
Inverters

Inverters turn DC (Direct current) power into AC (alternate current) power, the type of current that powers everyday appliances.
Final Suggestions
There is no need to buy multiple solar chargers for each electronic device owned, so invest in one with the best quality. If the solar charger is needed to power a lot of devices frequently, makes sure to buy an additional panel at about fifty dollars to ensure the maximum access to available sunlight; this panel allows for powering two laptops at once, and it should feel good to know that the electronic devices are functioning on renewable energy.
For cars it makes sense to purchase a solar charger that sits on the dashboard and soaks up the sun. These are not designed to jump start the car battery, but rather to keep the existing car battery at full charge and functioning.
Basically, if used properly it can extend the battery’s life, which of course saves money in the long run. Therefore, when individuals use many gadgets by plugging them up to the cigarette lighter, the solar charger helps against stress and fatigue that is placed on the battery.
Of course it is still possible to find one solar charger that supplies power to all electronic devices, including a car battery. As mentioned previously, there are many really good choices out there, so investigate properly, ask professionals which best fits their needs and enjoy the fact that you are participating in the usage of renewable energy, an environmentally wise choice.
Our top market selection includes:


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Dave,
where can a novice, such as myself, find online training material which would provide me with enough info to install my own home back up emergency system
thank you
Jon
on a camping trip i want to use a spare 12v sealed battery to run an engel fridge over night. during daylight hours i will be running the fridge from my car battery while touring. is there a solar system available to top up or recharge the spare battery during daylight hours while i am away from the camp site..
hi! to start am going to be using a brand new 50amp car battery,fully charged.i want to run a camping cooler run by 12vott adaptor also a laptop easy enoough. but i also want to charge a 36v10ah lithium-ion phosphate 12volt50ah battery while all 3 are beening used. [exsample] can a lithium ion battery still charge when working? can all 3 iteams run with a solar convertor, a charge controller,? and a solar panel [what kind do you recamend for the solar panel?] with the charge controller the 50 amp car battery should run for a long period of time, there for,cooler laptop and lithium battery should too if the charge controller works like alternator,heres hopeing.i thanking you in advance for reply graham
I have 8 highend LED lights hooked up to a Car Battery that has 600 cold
cranking amps 500 reserve, and 80 amphours. Hooked up to the battery I have a 5 watt 17.93 volt solar panles with a cahrger controller. The battery won’t charge all the way I can only run 6 of the 8 for about 2hours before that battery dies. Any suggestions?
@ Jayscaper
You can try to charge the battery without the lights hooked to see if the battery charges.
Or You could try a more wattage solar panel. (i.e. 15 Watt)
what do you think which is the best solar battery charger for iphone or ipod? Solio? Freeloader?? what about the SRESKY solar charger?
http://www.sresky.com
James if You are involved with sresky why don’t send Us a review (no cheesy) so we can evaluate You solar chargers?
I want to run a tree mounted game camera on a single 12 volt lead acid battery. I want to build a porable battery/solar charging all in one portable sytle unit. I’m not sure of the draw of the camera, but the other option to run it is 8 “c” cell batterys that last approximately two weeks except when the temp drops to minus 20 or 30. The “c” batteries only last about 3 days then. My question is 2 part. Will a 1.8 watt battery maintainer be sufficent for my application, or am I looking at a 5 or 15 watt solar panel? Also would I need to install a charge controller between the panel and battery; If so what size should I use?
If i were in You, I’d add a 15 Watt charger or The Brunton 26 Watt solar array should work fine too
http://www.12voltsolarpanels.net/review-brunton-26-watt-foldable-solar-array
You can also add a charge controller, I sugest You this one:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FIUSA4/ref=asc_df_B000FIUSA4952791?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=googlecom09c9-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B000FIUSA4
one solar panel of 500watt/hr can charge a battery of 1500watt within 3 hours?so we can drive 1.5kwatt dc motor .
How long does it take to charge a 1500W power backup with a 60W panel kit with 7A 12V controller?
I want a system for power backup. so it need to run regular house appliance like refrigerator. What system would you recommend?
Hi,
kindly i want have solar panel that powers 19.5V by 3.9A of my laptop and 50Watt colour TV set for good 6 hours.
thank you!
Hi,
kindly, i want to have solar panel that powers 19.5V by 3.9A of my laptop and 50Watt colour TV set for good 6 hours.
Any assistance you can provide will be greatly appreciated!
To Calculate how much time You’ll need to charge the battery with a 15 Watt solar charger You’ll need:
is this meant to say 44 hours or 4 hours at the bottome?
1. Calculate the Ampere per hour of the charger: 15 Watts /12 Volts = 1,25 Amperes
2. Calculate the division: 50 amp hours / 1,25 ampers = 40 Hours of direct sunlight
3. Add 10%: 4 hours
@Duncan
This means 44
I just bought a 12V solar trickle charger. When I put it in the window and attached a volt meter to it, it read 23-24 volts. I’m worried about frying a 12 volt battery.
You can buy a Solar Charge Controller
some examples here:
http://www.12voltsolarpanels.net/guide-buy-brunton-solar-controller-12volt-battery-charge-monitor
could you please tell me what watt of a solar panel i need to charge a 12v 7ah rechargeable battery. Thanks
I am a computer engineering student at PVAMU. I want to do my senior project on something dealing with solar power. Im not sure what i want to power, but im researching how the solar power can be connected to a device and what i would need to run an actual device using solar energy. can you please give me a few pointers on what to power and how?
You can consider an I pad charger or something related to little home appliances.
I am looking for some help in figuring out what I need to do what I want. I’m buying a vw camper next week and taking a road trip for several months. I want to take solar power with me to power a small fridge (new), my basic electronics (laptop, camera, cellphone) and possibly an electric appliance like a small george foreman grill. How much wattage do I need to run those things? Is it as simple as adding up what it says on the labels? The grill says 760 watts, so I’m confused. that sounds like an awful lot. I’m just a beginner here, and trying to figure these things out, so sorry if my questions sound dumb. Thanks.
Jude have a look at this article here:
http://www.12voltsolarpanels.net/rv-solar-panels-101-ultimate-guide-12-volt-battery-charging
i am going to spend 2 months in the jungle in costa rica ….. i will need 4 hours of light during the night to illuminate area of cca 10 m2 with general light …. what solar equipment do i need
@Toni
I think you’ll need 2 types of solar chargers:
A foldable one (Like Brunton) of more than 25 watt to power your devices (phones, cameras, etc…)
and a power back up kit like the Coleman CL-3600 Solar Backup Power Kit.
Consider also having data on solar radiation on your zone, season to calculate the right facing and panels inclination to maximize solar power capture.
Is it possible to regulate a 12 volt solar charger so you can charge a 6 volt battery?
Mike have a look at this:
Solar Portable Battery Charger 6/12 Volt – 10/10/2 by SEARS
Here
Hey. I have a 110v 10 amp hyrdrogen sulfide reading machine from Arizona Instruments. Would a 200w panel to car battery to converter power this machine if the machine only ran a maximum of a couple hours a day? The panel puts out roughly 13 amps in ideal conditions.
Another question I have is which kind of battery is my best choice for long distance use?
I suggest you use a solar controller on the solar charger, if the machine works a couple of hours a day, You should keep the battery charged constantly, that’s why the solar controller will help you in this and will avoid your battery fry.
What do you mean for long distance use?
Thanks
Hi there, we have a caravan, and all I want is to power a couple of lights at night off of a 12v car battery, I want to get a solar panel but I don’t know what rating of panel I need to keep the battery maintained, if it is a 150A/hr battery how many watts do I need the panel to be?
Many thanks,
Jacob
hai,i want make to solar panel used project can u help me.
hey i want to charge a bank of 12 volf car batteries so that i can use them to run a small portable dvd player and charge my cell phone useing a car charger what size solar panel would you sujest i get? is there anything else i need to get?
thanks any help would be nice
I have 2 12v batteries in a series to run my trolling motor. I have 2 solar panels I purchased to help recharge the batteries. When recharging, what posts do I attach to. I would assume the POS of one battery and the NEG of the other?
please i have a project to power a 35watts Wifi radio network. please kindly let me know the capacity of solar panel to deploy with a 100ah battery.Iam using a 10amps charge controller with a 300 watts inverter.
Thanks
hey i want to charge a bank of 12 volt batteries for invertor for use 1.5 Ton AC with consuption of 11 amp/hrs. Use of AC min. 5 hrs in night and 6 hrs in day so that i can by the solarcharger for this battery pl snd Address for the vendor in Ahemedabad. with price list.
thanks any help would be nice
how many watts solar panel do i need to charge a 100AH battery. i have a 20amp charge controller and a 230W inverter. The appliances add up to 200W. i want the battery to be fully charged in 7hours.
I want to put an electric fence around a 200 sq ft area using solar to keep a 12 volt battery
charged. Need to keep pesky deer out.
What do I need.
Hi, I am going camping for 2 weeks and need to power my CPAP machine (used at night to help me breath) with a battery. I will have my hybrid car with me. I was wondering what the best way to recharge the battery would be. Would the car be enough? I don’t want to risk damaging or depleting the battery in the car. If I used a solar panel what type would be best. How would I best set up this system?
would you send me the detail design package for 500W solar cells along with all accessaries. Thanks
I got started with a solar charger to keep my parents car battery up. It didn’t have a charge controller and when I started the car it felt like the starter motor had too much power! The car engine started quick but I didn’t know about charge controllers.
I wouldn’t use a solar charger without one now!
I have 4 linked solar panels giving 60watts output.
A 7.5 amp voltage regulator.
A 400 watt 12volt input to 120 volt output inverter
Two 12 volt deep cycle batteries.
The inverted output runs my TV , dish and 13watt lamp very well.
Can I charge the batteries during the day, while running the TV and Dish with the inverter?
Can you safely charge batteries with a solar panel while there is an output load applied to them without damaging any equipment?
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