Using solar to charge primary battery.

[BigFuun]

Is it possible to charge my primary battery using solar while I use it to power my Baja designs S2 work/scene lights.

I’m not looking to do a dual battery setup because I won’t be running a fridge or even going on trips that’s longer than 2-3 days.

thanks In advance

 

[ConcordCarlos]

Your looking to charge your starting battery to run the BD scene lights at night ? How much will the lights draw per hour, and how many hours do you plan on running them ?

 

[BigFuun]

Sure !
Obviously it wont charge when you likely using those lights, and its not optimal doing that to your starter battery, but its easily done !

You need to know how much current those lights draw and how long they will run per night.
That gives you first idea regards to size of solar system you need to install
Btw,
I just looked at ’specs for those lights.
If both lamps are lit, in round numbers, it draws 2A.
From there its simple math assignment to fill in the rest...

would you be willing to walk me through finding this out.

or as a separate option could I run the lights off a portable power source like a Goal Zero or Jackery?

 

[john61ct]

Which is just a very expensive and low capacity second battery setup.

Get a coulometer and measure the Ah consumed with the engine running.

Let's say 50Ah per hour just to make the math easy.

So, you will need 150W of solar charging all day and 100Ah of battery storage in nice sunny weather.

To be realistic, double or triple that in cloudy weather or away from the equator when days are shorter.

per hour you want to run the lights.

Lots more than your average fridge.

If that ends up being impractical, and you find you need ICE based energy sources

like a genset

then skip the battery bank and just run the lights off that directly.

 

[Bayou Boy]

Let’s back up. You don’t need to recharge anything with solar if you are only using two 2amp lights for a couple of hours each night and you drive the truck much at all the next day.

If they are lit continuously from 6-10pm that’s only 16 amp hours. If your starting battery can’t handle that it needs to be replaced.

Also, for reference, the absolute best I have seen from flat mounted solar down here on the gulf coast is 6.5-7 amps per hundred watt panel with an MPPT controller at noon on a sunny day. Estimate down from there as it gets cloudy and you go north.


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