What is a solar car battery charger?

Charge for free from solar energy

A solar car battery charger works by allowing you to use excess solar to power up your car. Generating solar energy requires solar panels or PV to be fitted to your home or place of work, but the energy generated through the solar panels is totally free!

Charge even when it isn’t sunny

There is a big misconception that solar panels only work on a sunny day. Photovoltaic panels ‘PV’ (solar panels) can use both direct or indirect sunlight to produce power. Although solar panels are most effective in direct sunlight, a rainy day can help clean any dirt or dust off your panels making them work more efficiently. Solar panels will still work even when the light is reflected or partially blocked by clouds.

Another misconception is that solar works from heat produced by the sun, but in fact, when panels are exposed to temperatures above 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25C), they tend to work less efficiently.

How do solar panels charge my car battery?

Light energy produced by the sun is called a photon, It is the most basic, fundamental particle of all light. It is these photons in natural daylight that are converted by solar panel cells to produce electricity. This small bundle of electromagnetic energy is constantly in motion. Simply put, a solar panel works by allowing photons, or particles of light, to bounce into electrons setting them free from atoms, generating a flow of electricity.

Solar panels are comprised of many, smaller parts called photovoltaic cells. (Photovoltaic, as described above simply means the conversion of sunlight into electricity.) Solar panels use the spectrum of colours we are used to seeing (visible) but also ultraviolet and infrared which cannot be seen by the human eye.