Solar Battery Charger?

[7en]

Has anyone here used a solar battery charger with their A110?

I'm thinking of an Optimate 10w Travel Kit with the solar panel left on the dash, to both top up and monitor the health of the battery.

Thanks in advance for any input.

[Rocket.]

I am interested in this also though not tried it and was hoping someone else would reply!

Can the battery be charged via the cigarette lighter / power socket, which I assume is where you would plug it in?

[7en]

They do offer a cigarette lighter socket adapter, however wiring to the battery should be easy enough through the bonnet release cable grommet. This would be for leaving the solar panel in the car; if you want to mount the panel outside I imagine it would be best to wire to battery and have the connecting cable in the froot.

[bcr5784]

Rocket. said:

I am interested in this also though not tried it and was hoping someone else would reply!

Can the battery be charged via the cigarette lighter / power socket, which I assume is where you would plug it in?

I'm pretty sure that the cigarette lighter socket isn't continuously live - so is unsuitable as a charging input.

[LE62NDE]

bcr5784 said:

I'm pretty sure that the cigarette lighter socket isn't continuously live - so is unsuitable as a charging input.

You're correct: it only becomes live on start-up, which is why it is useful for a dashcam, which is only powered when the engine is running, with no current drain when parked up.

[Esders]

I have done this. Dashtop chargers haven't worked for me in the past as they aren't large enough and struggle behind glass. I now run a larger external solar panel which then plugs into a charging point that goes directly to the battery via a quick release connector ( I use a Ctek one as it gives me other options as well.) The cigarette lighter point doesn't work for this purpose as it isn't live when the car is off. The solar panel itself sits on the ground near the car. The setup works well and keeps the battery charged up but I am lucky that I have the ability to leave a larger panel near where I park the car.