Quick Answer
Solar batteries can be charged with a regular charger without any issues. Solar batteries are a specific category of rechargeable batteries used for solar systems. Even so, their recharging methods are the same as other rechargeable batteries.
Use of battery charger for solar light batteries?
The weather is unpredictable through the sunlight in the region. We all know that the sunlight is not always the same throughout the year. There will be occasions when the sunlight is very low on a particular day.
The reason can be anything such as cloudy days, rainy seasons, thunderstorms, winter seasons, etc. Moreover, in some regions, the sun is hardly visible during the day.
In such an environment, solar light would not be possible to charge in the sunlight.
The solar panel mounted on the solar light will not receive sufficient energy to move the electron. As a result, no charge for the batteries is provided.
It is a good idea to have the back solar battery charger with you for emergency conditions. The solar battery charger comes with the power cable that you connect to the home power grid.
Put the rechargeable batteries in it, and it will begin charging the solar batteries. The solar light battery charger is a handy tool that gives you instant service to charge your batteries.
Charge the batteries of the solar power garden lights, outdoor lamps, indoor battery power lights, and other equipment that rely on solar panel charging.
Charging AA and AAA size solar lights batteries are now possible using the battery charger.
Charge the battery fully before you place the batteries back on the solar lights. The battery charger comes with an indicator that tells you when the battery is fully charged.
When you see the indicator, switch off the power connection, and remove the batteries from the charger. Do not keep the charging overnight. The overcharging could damage the batteries.
Can you charge a solar battery with a car battery charger?
Yes. It is possible to charge a solar battery with a car battery charger. Choose the battery charger that is compatible with your solar battery. The charging process is broken down to the battery chemistry.
The lead-acid battery that aligns with the power charger will generate sufficient energy to charge the batteries. You will never face a compatibility issue with the lead-acid battery.
The charge parameters are the essential component of the battery charger.
When it is compatible with the batteries, you can use any car charger to charge your solar batteries. Read the specification before you buy the car charger.
The information will tell you what type of batteries the charger support. An automatic battery charger charges the battery and turns off the power supply once the battery is fully charged.
Can you Charge batteries from the charger and solar at once?
Yes. You can charge the batteries from two different charging sources. Every battery comes with a max input capacity. When you connect the two energy sources to charge batteries, the battery uses both inputs.
It performs the charging until the input reaches the max capacity. As soon as the max capacity is reached, the source will be limited from transferring more energy to avoid damage to the batteries.
No matter how many charging sources you use to charge the battery, the typical battery uses its maximum capacity.
Connecting more charging points would be beneficial for the batteries as it will charge the battery quickly.
Solar energy usually is low in voltage. When you connect the solar batteries to the power grid, it will pump more energy into the batteries, and your batteries will be ready to use in a few minutes.
For example, suppose the solar batteries have a capacity of 30a Max charge when you connect two power sources. In that case, the battery will accept the power until it reaches the 30a max capacity and gets stable at this point.
Now the battery will charge at its optimum capacity with high-speed charging.
How do I charge my solar batteries fast?
The charging speed of the batteries depends on two factors, and one is the max capacity of the batteries to transfer the energy from the power source to the main component.
Another factor is the voltage. When your battery is charged at the max voltage for a few hours, the batteries will quickly charge.
Solar batteries would not be possible to charge at the max capacity under direct sunlight due to a consistent shift in the energy received from the sun.
Even during the afternoon, the sun’s rays are blocked by the cloud, which reduces the efficiency of solar batteries.
An alternative solution is to connect the batteries to the power grid. Some solar power batteries come with a dual charging facility.
You can either charge your batteries under the sunlight or use the primary power grid to charge the batteries. Due to the high voltage from the power grid, the battery will get charged quickly.
Eng. Matthew Joseph Nandirio is the Founder of walkingsolar.
After graduating from the University of Houston in 2002, matt started working as a Solar Electrical Engineer for several multi-national solar energy companies.
He has a wide range of experiences including solar system requirement analysis, planning, maintaining, debugging and even solar device development through research.
He now shares his 20 years of expertise through his articles on the walkingsolar website.
Further, he is also the author of two books on Solar Technology, “Solar Power for Villages” and “DIY Solar System for Dummies”.