Jul
Solar Charging Mobility Scooter Batteries
With many people trying to go green these days to try and do their bit for the environment and companies becoming more aware of the changes that they need to make, we are starting to see a positive shift towards genuine green products and services.
There are also plenty of companies out there who are not genuinely going green but they are trying to use the idea in order to promote what they offer and to exploit the situation, knowing that most customers wont look deeply enough into things to find out if something is as really good for the environment as claimed.
Individuals can make more of a positive change than they realise and its often where some of the best change is occurring and when you combine this, of the many thousands of people around the world who use their initiative and make things happen then we have a good thing going on.
As mobility scooters are a popular aid within the UK and require charging quite often for regular users and need a charge ready for occasional users it’s worth looking into solar charging your mobility scooter battery.
There is a company in the UK who are supplying solar panels that are suitable for the charging of various 24v batteries, including mobility scooter batteries.
They have 2 different sizes available, the Monocrystalline 24v charging 5 watt solar panel that is priced at £44.99 and theres also the Monocrystalline 24v charging 10 watt solar panel which is priced at £79.99 both of them come with 5 metres of bare ended cabling which should be long enough in most cases for where you choose to situate the solar panel, for example fixing it onto your garage roof (if you have one) may be an ideal spot for the solar panel.
The smaller of the two offers an output rating of 5 watts, while the larger one offer 1o watts, they are waterproof too, something that is important with our ever changing british weather and they will still emit a charge even in cloudy weather.
No charge controller is required for either of these and they are really well suited to trickle charging and making sure that you always have your mobility scooter battery charged while at the same time being very kind to the environment.
The one shown in the image is the smaller of the two, they are a great way to get year round charging without costing you too much to get started with solar power.
An affordable and green solution to your mobility scooter battery charging needs.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:46 am
Hi All, I checked with CPS-SOLAR about the panels mentioned who claim there is a company going round fitting the 10w 24v panels for charging
scooters without a charge controller without problems. A couple of other suppliers of same panels state without charge controller 5w panel
suitable batteries 35ah and over, 10w panel suitable for batteries 70ah and over, with lower rated batteries a charge controller should be fitted to prevent overcharge. I guess with my 40ah batteries it may be OK in standard conditions as it would only be charging part of the day and we get a lot of cloudy periods so would not be putting out full 10w, but if we get a very sunny period could the batteries end up fried if scooter not used in that period? I have checked power used by mains charger and it would take a long time to recoup costs if ever in it’s life span, I would not be prepared to use the preffered 10w panel on mine without a charge controller so that ups the cost to £110 then will need a mounting bracket kit for solar panel lead and plug to fit into scooter charger socket as to much effort to keep removing captains seat and battery cover to fit and remove battery clips or an accessory socket could be wired to batteries so easy to plug charger into easily, same socket can then be used to power an amber beacon for safety.
I have read articles about small solar panels not being as weather proof as claimed and have been damaged by hail stones, I would like to see a
five year warranty against faults and weather damage, if they are confident in their products it should be no problem but would need to buy from a company that will be there if warranty needed, if the wife’s garden solar lights are anything to go by I could end up very disappointed.
I am very keen to see a complete kit of solar panel, controller & connectors come on the market, hope you suppliers are reading these forums and it needs the warranty with a good price, it should be easy to produce a basic charge controller for just over charge protection without all the other options built into them to prevent over discharge when used with battery packs for powering other devices. One company I contacted said they expected to see solar kits in about 6 months time but I think I will have to keep up the Google searching. I have thought about looking at wind power but this is more hit & miss than solar power and all the moving parts to develop faults, good solar panels should be much more reliable. I know these will not replace the mains charger use but should help keep batteries in good condition and maybe extend life as less risk of being left for long periods without charge if in store while rider is ill and unable to use or unable to get to it to charge from mains.
If anyone knows of any good kits please post them on this forum, also please share your experiences if you are using one to give us all confidence wether to try it or not.
May 16th, 2011 at 8:57 am
I am thinking!! I spend a lot of time in Florida but am wheelchair bound, is there a possibility of fitting a Solar charger on the scooter/chair whilst driving to help maximise distance before charging