Solar panel for lift

[LoopSki]

Any recommendations on a solar panel to maintain battery for my lift? I have a cheap harbor freight panel that can’t keep up. Battery is shot now. What are you guys using ? I don’t have power at my dock. I don’t have much to mount to. Pic for attention.

 

 

 

[PurdueSkier]

My lift is powered by my boat battery and I have to connect and disconnect it with a quick plug each time. I haven't bought a solar setup yet but when I looked into earlier this summer Lake Lite was a very popular brand. Also turns out their factory is only about 30 minutes from my house.

 

https://www.lakelite.com/boat-lift-solar-charging-kits/

[skihacker]

I've swapped batteries every month or so even woth a solar panel, the spare stays on a tender in the house. If you run your hoist off the boat battery you lose a lot of current to the cables and the motor will run pretty slow.

[LeonL]

Not a specific brand, but you just need a bigger one, more output capacity. They are available in a wide range. It's all what your budget can stand.

How far away is A/C power? May be cheaper to dig a ditch and run some underground power, in the long run.

[Wayne]

I have 2 batteries in series and am using a 24V, 20 watt solar panel from Lift Tech Marine. It works well but I’m planning to add a charge controller too. If you have a 12V setup usually a 10 watt solar panel is enough.

 

I cooked a set of batteries 2 summers ago and started looking at RV forums and some of the off grid living forums for DC systems. Seems a charge controller really helps with battery life, I just got lazy and didn’t buy one yet but it’s on my list.

 

What type of batteries are you using? Should be a deep cycle type and I would try to get ones that are serviceable. The set of batteries I killed was due to the water level in the cells. I think they were getting overcharged and boiled off the water then their death was inevitable.

[BCM]

I have never run a boat lift from solar but have run lots of field equipment and gate openers on solar. I have had good luck using a BatteryTender solar charge controller and an appropriate sized panel from Amazon. I have built about a dozen systems and have found that if you can figure out the size you need, it is often much cheaper to buy your own panel and controller than to buy a pre-configured system. The panel and controller I have for my gate was < $100, the system they sell for the gate is about $250, its been going for 6 years without issue (same panel and battery).

[DW]

Would linking a couple or few of the HF panels together provide enough charging power. Might be a low investment option (or test).

[thager]

I bought a 15 watt solar panel from Northern tool for my lift ten years ago. Don't remember units name and can''t find same one at Northerns online store, but unit has a built in regulator so it won't overcharge the battery. Overcharging kills a battery quickly. Even with the regulator my battery usually only lasts 3-4 years

[jimski]

30 watt - 12 volt from lift tech

Works great I can run it all day and have no issues.

You should have a regulator on it or you’ll cook your battery

[BS74]

Go to harbor freight and get their 900 watt tail gator for $130. Small and light weight.

[TomH]

I'm cheap and didn't want to spend what would have been almost $500 from Lake Lite for my 24V lift set-up. I grabbed an Aleko 20W/24V panel, waterproof charge controller, and connectors for $70 and change (12V panels are cheaper/easier to come by). Another $20 at the hardware store for some EMT conduit, aluminum angle, nuts/bolts, and hose clamps let me fab up the mount for the side of the lift. It ran all summer long without a single hiccup with almost daily use. Whatever you do, get a charge controller like others have mentioned, as it'll protect the batteries and keep the panel from discharging them over-night.

[LeonL]

You might consider using 2 6V golf cart batteries in series, along with the above recommendations. That's the setup used in most all RV applications, and in some cases 4 6V batteries to run a 2KW inverter. 4 batteries adds to your overall cost though and I don't think that's necessary. Just throwing out useless RV info. You will have to monitor water level occasionally and add distilled water as needed.

[Mick04]

Cheap, Amazon (Eco-Worthy) 25W 12v Solar charger with charge controller. $59. Wal-Mart 12v Battery lasted 4 years on it. Just started slowing down this year.

 

[harddock]

My Floe is 24V I have an older single panel from Floe that maintains both batteries all summer. Batteries are 10 seasons old. When removed for winter they are stored in my garage on Schumacher battery tenders. It came with a mount for the lift.

 

[shoeskiman]

Loopski, Our previous lift we had the 24 VDC used a Lift Tech panel and two 12 batteries in series on a Shore Station lift. Two years ago we moved into our central Florida home and have the Basta hydraulic lift using a single 12 VDC battery. The system came with a 10 W panel that would not keep the battery charged in winter here.

We ski 10.5 months of the year. So I found a 170 W BP used solar panel on FB for $50.

I added a cheap solar controller (20 amp,) and it keeps the battery charged year round.

The panel is mounted vertically on a post facing East. The panel is 70 feet away from the lift the wiring run in liquid tight conduit to the control box. We replaced the battery this spring after about 4 years. We pretty much use the lift 5 days a week so it is a very robust system and we are very pleased with the system.

[Evanette]

I understand that your thread is from a few years ago, but the topic of solar panels for maintaining lift batteries remains relevant. Technology in this field has continued to evolve, so it's a good idea to explore the latest options and advancements in solar panels for marine applications.

[101driver]

I use solar only to charge my boat lift and completely separate I use solar to power my electric dorry which I use for maintaining the slalom course. This needs no input normally and just works, see caveat below. We used a larger solar set up at the old club for lighting generator start and topping up the launch tractor, this needed manual intervention to avoid the problems listed by other ballers.

Deep cycle lead acid battery ideally dont use more than 30% of its capacity in a normal planned use and definitely no more than 50%. Don't parallel strap smaller batteries together, buy the size you need. Calculate capacity if you can if not measure the current that your lift uses with a meter, important under load. You can measure your time lifting. You now have the capacity drain on the battery per lift. Look realistically at what your usage is, mine is spaced out through the week but if yours is going to be 10 lifts on a Saturday and none all week then you are going to need a pretty big battery for that number. double the figure or preferably x3 to give battery capacity.

Solar panel you need a charging system that will put that much power back in the mapped non use time in your week, the tricky bit here is how sunny will it be? here in the uk maybe 50% capacity 50% of the time so max current x0.25 x hours of good daylight. This is a base figure for size of panel. Have a serious think about how you will use and add extra for the busy day or possibly cloudy summer.

Other factors: some solar panels are better than others, good ones still charge on cloudy days cheep ones tend to need direct sun, depending on your climate make intelligent choice. Can you sap the battery out occasionally and charge at home, it soon becomes a chore but if you just need atop up early or late season when it's not so sunny and you can get away with a smaller system rest of year might work for you. If you are going big or matching closely then fit a regulator otherwise as others have said you will fry your battery.

IS IT WORKING or are you dragging your battery down and risking killing it. A cheep digital voltmeter cost a few dollars and uses negligible power. I have one on the electric dorry so I know if I am getting low. Put one on the lift if in doubt and you can see if you are starting to beat the sun and make good choices before killing your battery.

I highly recommend a voltage regulator, that said I don't use one on either the dorry or the lift that is because the batteries are way over size for the duty, the panels are small and the use is very regular. 

Caveat: I have to charge or swap out dorry battery early and end of season. The work clearing lake of winter wood, setting up course putting course away at end of season ETC ETC when sun is weak means I have no choice and I am not paying for bigger system when I don't need it for main season.

[101driver]

Sorry, two points I forgot, car lead acid batteries don't like trickle charge, it kills them. I commissioned a pretty big scientific study into this a few years back and it was 100% conclusive. Use leisure batteries. The second point is that you don't get all of the electrical recharge converted back into chemical energy in the battery, the right battery it's condition age etc and how discharged it is all affect recharge capability or capacity. So as an example my mate steve has the same lift as me similar boats his is a SN200 I have a MC190. Same solar panel as fitted standard on sunlift battery box. Obviously same sun. I ski over twice as many times= boat lift actions in a season. His battery is same age but 30% bigger. So how come my battery stays charged all season and his goes flat? usage pattern he uses lift twice on a Sat and once on a Sunday. The week in between should be enough time to charge the battery up, but its not. Even though he doesn't ski every weekend it still gets dragged down with some two weeks of recharge time. I use mine 4 times a week every week on a 8 day week cycle to match my shift pattern each is a single lift in a day usually with a day off in between and no weeks off to recover. I am operating in the 30% range, steve is dipping into the zone beyond 50% discharge and it just doesn't come back up easily, a lot of wasted electricity to drag the battery back up.

[Evanette]

On 1/3/2024 at 12:33 PM, Evanette said:

I understand that your thread is from a few years ago, but the topic of solar panels for maintaining lift batteries remains relevant. Technology in this field has continued to evolve, so it's a good idea to explore the latest options and advancements in solar panels for marine applications.

Considering your previous experience with a harbor freight panel, it might be worth looking into higher-quality solar panels from reputable solar companies that offer better efficiency and durability. Many companies specialize in marine solar panels designed to withstand harsh environments and provide consistent power to your lift's battery.