Solar Battery Chargers???

My 2008 Tacoma just sits theses days because I have a company car ... What's a good Solar Battery Trickle Charger so my battery doesn't die every 2 months.

 

If you have a full charged and healthy battery and a lot of direct sunlight, you might get by with a 5 watt panel to maintain your battery's charge; otherwise, a 10 watt panel would be better, especially in the summer. IMHO, a better solution would be to take your battery out of the vehicle and continuously float charge it with a small temperature compensated smart charger, like a Battery Tender Plus, or fully recharge your battery at least once every two weeks especially in the summer. The reason is because heat increases the natural self-discharge of a lead-acid battery; thus, increasing the parastic load.

 

Prob be a good idea to fire it up and take it for a spin around the block once a week. That will help keep the battery charged as well as keeping the fluids moving around as well.

 

I use the small Goal Zero solar panels/battery packs for my phone/electronic devices. Works great. REI or most sportsmans outdoors places would carry the kit for 12v charging.

http://www.goalzero.com/p/159/guardian-12v-charge-controller-with-nomad-13-solar-panel

 

Battery should be fine for 2 months. I never have problems with boat batteries after sitting that long. I would still just fire it up and drive a few miles monthly.

 

Battery Tender makes a solar unit. I haven't used the solar model but the good ol' powered unit works great.