How can you charge your solar battery without a sun? Do you need a special charger for solar batteries? Or Can you charge solar light batteries in a charger?
Yes, you can charge solar light batteries with a battery charger. Actually, you can charge any rechargeable battery with an alternate source. Solar batteries are just rechargeable batteries like others.
But, it would depend on the battery and the charger. You need to know what kind of battery it is and use a suitable charger for that battery.
You need to check the battery’s rated charging voltage & current. The output voltage and current of the battery charger should match with the battery’s rated charging voltage & current.
Get a charger with the same rated voltage, current, and type and you will be good to go.
So, can you recharge solar batteries? The simple answer is yes.
Why would you charge solar light batteries in a battery charger?
The health of solar batteries deteriorates over time. After a battery has been discharged for too long, they either won’t hold a charge anymore.
You should check your battery’s health periodically to get the most out of it or to determine if it’s time for a replacement.
Use a battery charger if you want to check the health of the solar batteries whether they are working properly or not. Preferably, You can do this every year to pretest the batteries are still working, and working properly.
How can you charge solar light batteries in a charger?
To charge or test the solar batteries, take a decent independent multi-channel battery charger, one that allows you to mix and match different battery sizes, types and capacities together.
It will save you lots of money in the long run, and allow you to test, discharge, condition, and charge NiCad and NiMH without worry for pennies per charge compared to using alkaline types.
Procedure to charge solar light batteries in a battery charger
Please follow the following procedure to charge solar light batteries with regular charger.
1# Select a multipurpose battery charger.
2# Remove the battery from solar lights for charging.
3# Then check the manual of battery for charging instruction or use this formula
Current Limit <= Capacity/1000
Let suppose the battery is 3000mAh then
Current Limit <= 3000/1000 = 3A .
3A is the lower limit current or rated current, it is a limit that extends battery life. Charger shouldn’t exceed this rated current, 80% of the rated current is safe to provide.
4# Apply suitable settings in the charger. Select Battery type, maximum Input Current, voltage, and mode of charging.
Different battery chargers can vary in different settings. As a general guideline, you can adjust your battery charger as follows-
press MODE > NIMH battery> switch Auto> Input Current 3A.
5# Make sure that the battery charger is charging. Wait for it to fully charge Automatically.
Now, you know the procedure of charging solar batteries with battery charger.
How to charge solar battery with electricity?
Can you charge a solar battery with electricity? Yes, this is how
If you have an adjustable power supply. The best way to proceed is to-
- Connect the battery to a power supply with a variable voltage output, and
- An ammeter, showing the current flow into the battery.
- Keep raising the voltage, and watch the current.
- Stay below 20% of the rated battery current capacity.
- Also, keep checking the temperature of the battery often.
- If the temp rises significantly-lower the charging current.
The problem is that you do not know exactly when the battery is fully charged. You will have to estimate from the current level and length of time of the charge.
Different types of Batteries need Different chargers
Solar lights are commonly fitted with NiMH batteries – usually cheap NiMH batteries of very low capacity and an even lower lifetime before they stop taking a charge altogether – but you may have solar lights with some other sort of battery. Find out what kind of battery they are.
I’ve seen solar lights with NiCad, NiMh, and LiPo batteries, all requiring different chargers.
Deep cell batteries require a slower charge and a cleaner well filtered DC source to charge efficiently with no damage. NI Cad and Lithium batteries also have their own charging requirements.
So using the wrong charger can damage them.
A chunky 12V charger for the lead-acid battery in your car, a dedicated charger for AAA NiCd cells, or a USB phone charger for the LiPO in your phone could all be described as such, and none of them would be suitable for charging batteries of different technology.
You need to use the correct charger for your battery.
So, can you recharge solar batteries in a battery charger? The answer is yes, just you have to find the best fit for your solar batteries to charge solar light batteries with a charger.