How a simple solar panel charger saved me wasting money on new car batteries

A solar panel charger being attached to a car battery

My handy solar panel charger being attached to the car battery to keep it charged up (Image credit: Future / Amy Willis)

I have a rather old but large white Renault Master van on my driveway at the moment from all the renovation work I have been doing to my house. It is currently serving as a rather unattractive storage unit for recycled kitchen units that I intend to put into my utility room when I finally get around to building it.

Aside from the constant door knocks asking if I want to sell the van for conversion into a mobile home (this is a thing now apparently), the other nuisance is keeping the van's battery charged up in case I have to move it. And if I failed to remember to start up the van every few weeks to give it a boost — the battery not only ran flat, but it frequently would malfunction so it wouldn't even charge. This was a real pain as it meant I couldn't shift this huge van out the way for jobs such as finishing off the driveway or getting a grab lorry in to remove soil and rubble from the site until I went and purchased a new van battery. This happened at least twice, costing around £150 on a new battery each time it needed replacing.

The cables clicked into position and literally all that was required was to connect the clips to the positive and negative terminals of the car battery that needed charging up to keep it ticking over. With the van I simply connected it to the battery and popped the solar panel on the bonnet in the sunshine. It does state that the solar panel charger should be removed before attempting to start the vehicle.

There are multiple other uses, for instance any classic cars, caravans, motorhomes, boats or anything else you need to run off a car battery in the tool shed. The far more powerful 120W Nicesolar solar panel "off-grid" charging kit seems to be a good go-to option for those with a need for a much higher demand charger — and even off-grid living in a small camper van or perhaps a make-shift holiday hut.

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solar panel charger charging a battery in a field — (Image credit: Future / Amy Willis)

Homebuilding's expert David Hilton explains the difference well in his solar PV guide, saying: "Monocrystalline cells tend to be black in colour and are slightly more efficient (around 21%) than polycrystalline cells but are also more sensitive to heat. Polycrystalline cells tend to be blue-ish in colour and are slightly less efficient (around 19%). They can often be less expensive as the manufacturing process is less intensive."

Amy spent over a decade in London editing and writing for The Daily Telegraph, MailOnline, and Metro.co.uk before moving to East Anglia where she began renovating a period property in rural Suffolk. During this time she also did some TV work at ITV Anglia and CBS as well as freelancing for Yahoo, AOL, ESPN and The Mirror. When the pandemic hit she switched to full-time building work on her renovation and spent nearly two years focusing solely on that. She's taken a hands-on DIY approach to the project, knocking down walls, restoring oak beams and laying slabs with the help of family members to save costs. She has largely focused on using natural materials, such as limestone, oak and sisal carpet, to put character back into the property that was largely removed during the eighties. The project has extended into the garden too, with the cottage's exterior completely re-landscaped with a digger and a new driveway added. She has dealt with de-listing a property as well as handling land disputes and conveyancing administration.