AA12 V Car Solar Battery Trickle Charger, AA1432 - for Vehicles and Caravans - Battery Connectors Included, Solar 4.8W, Black

This solar panel car battery trickle charger is a useful device for keeping your car battery topped up when parked for long periods of time.The panel is the size of a dinner tray and is quite robust without being too heavy.It connects via the OBD socket which is usually located just under the dashboard. This socket has direct connections to the car battery which are not affected by the ignition being turned off.I would recommend this item.

After I found my battery flat in lockdown having not driven my car for ages, I bought this to make sure it wasn't going to happen again. This won't jumpstart or totally recharge your battery, but is instead designed to keep it topped up so that your alarm system, key sensors etc. don't drain it whilst not in use. It is easy to use - just sits on your dashboard and plugs into the internal OBD socket (though some cars have this hidden away) so no faffing around under the bonnet, though they do provide leads for that also if you wish. It is quite rugged and about the size of a dinner tray.It would have been nice if they had put a stand on the back, and it has no USB connectivity that some similar products have.... it is really just for the car. But does that job well.

I have a Stop/Start SEAT, battery went low and wouldn't start the car.But it had enough power to shut windows/lock car/fold mirrors.Sat over weekend 2 1/2 days to be precise, mixed weather.Went to it on Monday morning, started straight away.I was apprehensive on buying it, but on advice I bought it.100% recommended.

Reasonable price. The OBD plug seems to be a rare feature on these solar panels. It is needed because some vehicles dont activate the cigarette lighter socket unless the ignition is on. This is a well thought out product. Kept my motorhome battery charged during April. I accidentally left a cabin light on for 2 weeks and this saved me from a flat battery. Good quality item.

I was surprised that there is no LED on the solar panel to indicate it is charging. Instead, they have included an LED dongle with a plug on the end. To check there's a current from the solar panel, one has to disconnect the lead from the solar panel to the EOBD plug and connect the LED dongle to the solar panel lead and see if the LED illuminates. I saw one of these AA solar panels on Ebay and it had an LED installed in the solar panel. I'm sorry I didn't buy that one.Why they have done this is anyone's guess. but it's quite inconvenient.This review may be updated when I have checked whether or not there is reverse current when the sun doesn't shine - which would discharge the battery. If there is, it will be sent back.

I work away a lot and the car can sit for weeks at a time. I use this to trickle charge my battery while i am away. I can only assume it does the trick. Just as an experiment i used ti to charge another battery from dead and it worked.

Bought this to keep my van battery topped up while i went on me jollies for 2 weeks. 4 days into the holiday and my neighbour rings, van alarms going off all hours, cos low battery, neighbours calling the police claiming the vans been broken into when not. It eventually stopped when the siren ran the battery completely flat. Cheers AA!

I use the AA 'Car Genie' (now called something different) which monitors the car for faults, checks the battery, and shows the car location and journey details (great for working out business mileage!). Over the last year, with little / no long distance driving, I was getting constant warnings that my battery needed charging. It was recommended that I get a 'trickle' charger but there is no convenient electrical supply. This looked a good piece of kit. It comes with a long lead and various plugs for use in different circumstances.; one plugs into the Onboard Computer socket, one into the 'cigarette' lighter, and a third connector for the battery / charging point. A fourth lead has a neon indicator to show that a charge is flowing from the solar panel. Great idea BUT (1) my car OBC has the 'Car Genie' plugged into it, (2) my 'cigarette' socket isn't 'live' when the ignition is off (3) my battery is under the boot floor and (4) you don't have an indication that the charge is actually flowing to the battery (as you have to unplug the charge connection to plug the neon indicator in!). It's a bit inconvenient to have to open the bonnet and connect the device to the charging point / earth; the size of the unit is bigger than I expected and storing it when driving is a bit of a pain. A good touch would be to include a soft carry case for when the unit isn't in use. As for usefulness, I need to give the car a good run so that the battery is fully charged and then use this unit to keep it topped up as it won't recharge a depleted battery.