Solar power.

[Spike56]

As a conscientious virus avoider, I am staying at home as much as possible. Also as a vulnerable person with an over 70 year old wife, I am spectacularly unable to get shop delivery slots. I am therefore looking at Ring solar battery maintainers to keep the battery functional.

Has anyone used any of these, and has anyone got an idea which size/capacity charger is best?

My owners handbook suggests running the engine (not even moving?) for 20 minutes per week, if the vehicle remains unused! Enough to keep it charged, or enough to kill the dpf?

My car is a MY11 S60 D5 auto.

Any suggestions would be great. Stay safe

[rxtian]

If it’s only a few weeks, running it for 20mins will probably be ok - the Volvo DPF system is pretty robust.

If you want to do the absolute best for the car then that would be getting a battery charger.

[Spike56]

Thanks! Sadly very impractical as the car gets parked in another road and there's no access to power. Buggered if I can carry the battery back and forth, hence the idea of a solar panel charging unit. Cost between£15 and £30 from the orange and black company.....🤫. Otherwise it's a blast down the local motorway once a week! (My preferred choice).

[AB100]

Got an older one I plug into the cig lighter socket my classic and just about does the job, only about 1watt.
Think the 12V sockets in the Volvo are not live when the ignition is off, certainly the ones in our XC60 are off.
You might need extension leads to reach the battery!

[Spike56]

I was thinking rear parcel shelf and into the boot. Boot socket is permanent live. ( Must admit though that the power would have to be on for the others to work 😂!)

Thanks!

Ring 240 2.4w up to 100ah.

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by Spike56

I was thinking rear parcel shelf and into the boot. Boot socket is permanent live. ( Must admit though that the power would have to be on for the others to work 😂!)

Thanks!

The PV cells in the solar panels respond largely to the sunlight UV content, unfortunately this is mostly absorbed as it passes through the vehicle glass.

If it were me I'd simply disconnect one of the battery terminals to prevent the charge being drained. You'll have to work out how to lock the car first with the bonnet open, before disconnecting the battery and finally closing the bonnet. Then when you need to enter the vehicle you'll need to use the 'emergency' key (which requires removal of a small panel on the N/S/F door handle on mine).

[Spike56]

🤯. Going to drive it once a week then, and hope for the best! 🤣

[Spike56]

Time for someone to create a solar panel sunroof?

[ASt85]

I use solar battery maintainers that I bought from Aldi which are quoted as 6W output and work extremely well through the side windows of both my C70 and V70.

Even with the alarms left on, there is always full battery power available to spin the starters even after not starting for three months of more. Even on an overcast winter's day the output is above that quoted below. They are diode protected so you do not have to disconnect them if you use the car.
ALDI
6W(nominal) 12V Brand Auto XS - Dimensions: 50 x 35 x 1.5cm (approx.)
https://www.aldi.co.uk/solar-battery...12551262369400 which apparently is no longer available which is aldi speak for they'll be re-stocking it later in the year!
NB Guarantee/Warranty
3 Years
Suitable For Leisure vehicles up to 200Ah, large cars and 4x4 vehicles, motorcycles, golf trolleys, jet ski's, vans and boats.

HALFORDS
Halfords version is made by the same company and currently retails @ £39
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/ba...ah-196489.html

If you run a search for "solar battery maintainer 12v 6w" you should be able to source it for around tha Aldi price which was around £25 last year....NB it was only £11.99 in 2018!!

[rxtian]

Originally Posted by Spike56

I was thinking rear parcel shelf and into the boot. Boot socket is permanent live

Just to let you know - it is possible for the socket to power things, but it to be impossible to charge the battery through the socket - there can be a diode or mosfet in circuit to prevent reverse current flow.