Permanent mounted solar panel

[Capt.Ron]

My RTV-X1140 has something draining the battery. I can charge it and it will last a week or so and then need to be charged or jump started.
I thought about mounting a solar panel on the roof to help it maintain a charge. Has anyone ever done that and if so, how did it work for you?
I'd love to see some links to the items you purchased for the job if you have them.

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[Peace]

I’ve seen these on dump trailers mounted to the top of the battery box. No experience with them personally. I’m sure some of the experts will chime in soon.

i’d also be interested in somebody‘s long term experience with solar chargers/tenders.
https://a.co/d/83hZfk0

 

[Uncle_Charlie]

My Yanmar had a solar trickle charger panel bolted to the hood when I bought it. Apparently the PO wasn't much for diagnostics. It took about 20 minutes to figure out why the generator wasn't charging the battery. The solar panel will work, but you have to park the tractor outside for it to work. I keep the tractor in a shipping container, so the solar charger doesn't do much for the battery.

 

[WM75Guy]

I bought a Solperk 30W solar charger with waterproof controller to keep the battery on my fuel trailer charged up. Cost was $90 off Amazon. I mounted the charger but not the panel. When I need to go into town to fill it up, I just unplug the panel and throw it in the truck till I get back home. Has lights to show charging and battery status. You can also run a small 12V work light off of it, using the provided plug. So far it is working great.

 

[YanmarFever]

I have a solar panel on the roof of our daihatsu mini truck to keep charged up to full capacity, it works great.
Its about 8" x 12" but it does the trick.

 

[LittleBill21]

I use this with my dump, and it charges it by next day after using it a bit, works great.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...0491e94115cee&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

 

[Too many Kubotas]

A five to 10 Watt version (waterproof) should do the job. Any more than that and you'll need a controller.

 

[John_Mc]

Does your RTV-X1140 have a winch? If so, does the winch have a wireless remote control? If the answer is yes, my bet is that is what is draining your battery. The winch is usually wired directly to the battery, and the radio receiver for the wireless remote is usually connected to the winch. In this case, the receiver is on continuously, even if the UTV is switched off. You can add a bettery diconnect switch, and remember to turn it off when the UTV will not be used. As an alternative, if you can find the power wire to the radio receiver on the winch, you can put a switch in that lead and leave it turned off except when you are using the winch remote control.

 

[scootr]

I had a 10w solar panel mounted on the roof my Terex. Never could find the parasitic draw but the panel covered the loss. Note they do produce less when dirty so I would have to clean it occasionally.

 

[5030]

Only permanent mount I have is on the roof of the RV.