Product Description

The Sunforce 50022 5 Watt Solar Battery Trickle Charger gives you another reason to love the sun -- it'll help keep your vehicle's battery charged. Just plug the this helpful 5-watt trickle charger into your vehicle's 12-volt lighter socket and position the panel to pick up the most daylight possible. Or, if you prefer, use the included alligator clips to connect it directly to the battery, so you can keep your lighter socket open for cell phone chargers or other accessories. Regardless of how you hook up the battery charger, you'll never get caught off guard without the juice you need to start your car. You can also use this device to maintain the charge on any 12-volt battery for clean, silent operation of various electronics, such as deer feeders and landscaping pumps. The 50022 features a built-in ultra-bright blue LED charging indicator, and is a great choice for automobiles, recreational vehicles (RV), tractors, all terrain vehicles (ATV), boats, electric fences, telemetry and more, and it is even effective on cloudy days. This trickle charger is made of durable ABS plastic and amorphous solar cells, measures 14 x 0.75 x 13 inches (WxHxD), weighs 4 pounds, and has a maximum temperature range of -40 to 176-degrees Fahrenheit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #163 in Automotive
• Brand: Sunforce
• Model: 50022
• Released on: 2005-11-25
• Dimensions: 1.25" h x 13.00" w x 17.00" l,

Features

• 5-watt solar charger plugs into your vehicle's 12-volt lighter socket
• Works with automobile, all terrain vehicle (ATV), personal water craft (PWC), and boat batteries
• Made of durable ABS plastic and amorphous solar cells
• Includes alligator clips for direct connection to a battery
• Measures 14 x 0.75 x 13 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 4 pounds

Customer Reviews

Perfect for my campsite
I live on a river and built a campsite on an island across from my house (the dog loves it). I bought a deep-cycle marine battery but am getting too old to lug it in and out of the canoe for charging. So I got this little panel and, so far, have not run out of juice. And it's cheap enough so if someone steals it it's no big tragedy. I run a laptop, TV, fluorescent light and charge my cell phone. I even have a 12v car-vac to clean the sand out of the tent.

Of course, I'm not there 95% of the time so 5 watts is probably adequate. And I don't have to worry about overcharging. I screwed it to a big log in pretty open sun. So far, it has survived, even some small hail.

BTW, I use the power cord from an old vacuum cleaner and a 4-way 12v splitter to distribute power from the battery.

Good electric output but fragile / bad packaging
I recently ordered one of these panels (June 2007). The first one arrived shattered - the manufacturer packaging does not protect the panel much and it was inadequately packaged in the shipping box by Amazon. The replacement unit was also badly packaged for shipment.

I tested the electrical output in full sunlight and got 20V out into a 100 ohm load -> 4 watts which is pretty good.

One thing to consider though is that this product is not very rugged. The solar panel has a plastic frame but the middle is unprotected on the back (and front). So unless you handle it very carefully it is likely to break.

Someone using this on a car dashboard would need some sort of protective carrier (like those insulated pizza boxes) to protect the unit when it was not being used.

------------ Update Dec 2007 ----------------

Panel stopped producing electricity in November. Had to send it in to Sunforce at my expense for warrantee replacement. They promptly tested it and sent me a replacement. One thing I did notice is that the plastic housing on the unit that I returned had developed some small cracks. I am using the unit on my car dashboard to keep my battery charged.

An Overperformer!
This unit has consistently performed _better_ than it is rated for. It routinely generates over 140% the rated voltage - and even generates the Rated Voltage on overcast days. A *streetlight* at night caused it to generate a measurable voltage (~50% rated, as I recall). Also, it is weather/hailstone resistant. I am very pleased with the performance of this item.