How long does it take to charge a 12v deep cycle battery with a 10 watt solar panel?

I want to also know if the 10 watt rating on the solar panel is 10 watts per day or is it constantly adding 10 watts? Is there a time which the 10 watts is being added like 10 watts per second or 10 watts per minute and so on?

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5 Comments Post a Comment
  1. vicinic says:

    120 hours of peak sunshine, I’d say give it a month.

  2. jleblanc42 says:

    It will put out 10 watts in full sunlight at noon, less at other times of the day. That means 0.83 amps, so just divide the battery capacity (in amp-hours) by 0.8 and you’ll get an approximate charging time under full sun.

  3. JOHNNIE B says:

    Normal power is measured in kilo watts per hour. It sounds like 10 watts would be very small to do anything.

  4. Annon says:

    Watts is a measure of energy per second. IE joules per second. 10 watts = 10 joules/second

    Car battery capacities will be measured in mAH (milli-Amp hours)
    capacities vary greatly although they will still take a fair while to get charged by such a tiny power charger.

  5. yankee_sailor says:

    a 10w solar panel means at peak efficiency ( high noon, panel pointed flat at the sun, hitting it at 90 degrees), you will get 10 watts (at any given second).

    Watts = volts x amps

    a 12volt battery needs an "incoming" current of at least 13 volts to charge it; 13.5 volts is better.

    so if the output VOLTAGE of the panel is less than 13 volts it wont do anything.

    Even if it is, 10 / 13.5 = .74 amp.( three quarters). It will take forever and a day to charge a deeply discharged deep cycle battery……….

    consider that a small 110v battery charger is putting out 3-5 amps ( or 3 x 110 =330 Watts) and the alternator on a car is putting out 20 to 50 amps at 14 volts ( 280 to 730 Watts).

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