As environmental problems generate more and more concern, interest in using electricity and solar energy to power cars grows. In order to understand the solar battery charger, you need to understand how a car battery functions. A car battery stores energy and supplies a direct current (DC) to conductive parts of an automobile's circuit. A standard battery has six cells that are 2.1 volts (V) each. It's important to note that when a small amount of voltage is lost it makes a tremendous difference. For example, if your car battery drops from 12.6 to 12.0 V you lose 75% of the charge.
This is important to understand because most solar powered car batteries are six volts; in order to make them operate a car they are paired together. Therefore, if you use a solar car battery you will not have quite as much power as if you use a standard battery. Therefore, you may want to use a standard battery and charge it with solar power to keep your car performing at maximum power.
Experienced do-it-yourselfers can charge a standard lead acid car battery with a solar panel. Connect the solar panel to your battery and use a voltmeter to watch the voltage increase. As you approach 14 V your battery will be charged.
If this sounds too complicated, shop for a solar car battery charger. To understand solar car battery chargers, you should understand a little bit about solar powered cars. Think of solar powered cars as electric cars that are powered by solar energy instead of plug-in technology. The car harnesses solar energy via solar panels attached to the surface of the car. Solar cells capture the sun's energy and convert it into electricity. However, solar powered cars cannot be used for mainstream transportation because they cannot store enough electrical power to travel far when they are not exposed to direct sunlight.
Until solar powered cars make more headway into the consumer market, the next best thing may be the solar car battery charger. A solar battery charger can prolong the life of your battery because the battery can charge without experiencing wear and tear as you drive. If you keep your car in storage a solar charger is very useful because you do not need to drive your car to keep the battery from dying. You simply hook it up to the solar battery charger.
Note that you will not be able to keep your car parked exclusively in the garage if you rarely use it because you will need sunlight to power the solar charger.
The solar car battery charger has yet to invade the mainstream car market and cannot be found in stores like AutoZone and Pep Boys or in the automotive sections of large stores like Wal-Mart. Therefore, you will find it easiest to shop online where you can look for competitive prices and research the chargers.
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