Aldi Solar Battery Maintainer

[David Mack]

Aldi are selling a "Solar Battery Maintainer" solar panel for £11.99.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/auto-xs-solar-battery-maintainer/p/076274130462400

 

At 50 x 35 cm it clearly isn't going to be very high power, but would it be any good at keeping boat batteries topped up between trips?

 

The reviews on the Aldi website are mixed, although some of the negatives seem to be from people who were expecting this to charge a flat battery.  It also appears to be rated at 6W, so 0.5A max into 12V.

[TheBiscuits]

I think that is the 2.4W one.  They did do a larger one recently, but it was £25.

 

Also note that croc clips on a boat solar panel are a BSS fail point.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Also note that croc clips on a boat solar panel are a BSS fail point.

The BSS is not an automatic fail with Crocodile Clips.

 

Croc clips can be used on non-permanently installed equipment, so a small solar panel sat on the roof / on the stern, and not 'permanently installed' on the boat is fine.

 

(Section 3:4:1)

[Tony Brooks]

 

It is called a Battery MAINTAINER, not a charger. In my view you may as well try to fill a lock by peeing into it. Probably fine for a 35Ah car battery, not for most inland boat domestic banks. I have had cases where this sort of thing has caused people to destroy their battery bank - leave well alone and save up for a minimum of 40 watts plus a controller and preferably much larger.

[RichM]

I had one of these as a gift for Christmas. Nice thought but not much use for a bank of 5 batteries...

[Sea Dog]

21 minutes ago, RichM said:

I had one of these as a gift for Christmas. Nice thought but not much use for a bank of 5 batteries...

Might keep your already fully charged starter battery floating though?

[leeco]

Get one of these bad boys 

 

https://www.bimblesolar.com/250w-perlight-mono-used