Features:

  • 5W solar panel with built-in Battery Tender 3-step microcontroller for super-smart charging that ensures that your battery is not damaged by overcharging
  • Output: 12 VDC, 270 mAmp DC, 5W max for battery charging and maintenance
  • Worry free: Reverse polarity protection, waterproof, sparkproof, built in temperature compensation sensor, and CE approved
  • Great for: Outdoor use, trickle charging, off road motorcycle, all-terrain vehicles
  • Approximate dimensions: 14"W X 16"L X 1"H; Weight: 3 pounds
  • Built-in 3-step microcontroller for precise charging
  • Waterproof and sparkproof for outdoor installations
  • Easy, do-it-yourself installation
  • Built-in temperature compensation sensor
  • 12V nominal voltage 270 mAmps
Good quality 15w panel with built in 12v dc controller.

This 15w Battery Tender solar charger arrived discretely packaged from Amazon, which is a good thing since the factory box has a picture and description of the panel. Did a test in full sunlight and after 2-3 minutes I got 24v off the panel with my multi meter. Tried to get a DC current reading and got nothing. I thought something was faulty with the panel but after contacting Battery Tenders customer service they informed me the controller won’t send current unless the sensor reads at least 3volts from the device i.e. automotive battery. This is a built in “safety feature” that prevents damage to the controller by (in my words) “careless end users”. You can come to your own conclusions on what that means :) The only downside is the built in controller limits this solar panel as a dedicated automotive battery charger/maintainer with a limited (approx 900mA) output. If you want higher wattage output, then a non-regulated solar panel would be a better option.

Thank you, thank you for this battery tender!

I purchased this in Sept. 2017, so I've used it now around 4 months. I have a 1999 Ford Taurus and the battery is 2 years old. I guess I might drive my car once or twice a month, so I had to drag out the charger, charge the battery, so I could use the car, every time! Since, I hooked the Battery Tender up to the battery, my car starts, every time. It has started, even when the temperature has been in the single digits and teens, for 2 whole weeks. I am thankful and thrilled, that I purchased this product. It was really easy to hook up, too.

Love this thing! Protect SUV's battery!

I bought this to protect 4Runner battery while I keep it parked in the yard. (I ride my motorcycles daily & will switch back to the 4Runner if/when I need to) This helps to keep my new battery charged for the occasional Home Depot trip. (had to get a new battery after the old one died from no use) Also got the battery 25' extension which is helpful should I need to adjust where I put the solar panel. I love this thing! No more dead batteries, no need for a nearby outlet or electricity just the everyday sun of Southern California!

Perfect for the camper! Add disconnect switch

I added this to the propane cover of our camper to help maintain a charge in our battery. If you don't leave it plugged in, it drains the battery and doesn't stay charged for long. This should do the trick! 6.7.17- well, it isn't working. The brain of it isn't functioning correctly so now I will have to get a hold of the manufacturer to get a replacement. When I will I will follow up again. 3-12-2019 update I added a battery disconnect switch so my camper when parked can no longer drain the battery when parked. I have the battery tender hooked directly to the battery and it now seems to be keeping the battery charged. Supper happy

Peace of Mind

This worked out great. I have my pontoon in dry storage, so I trailer it to the lake. While in storage I attach the Battery Tender to my battery box MinnKota Trolling Motor Power Center with a battery charger male adapter. Battery stays charged and I'm good to go anytime. Peace of mind from Battery Tender.

Bought it for one purpose, now use it on a few. Probably need to buy a few more.

Perfect for topping off the 12V battery while it sits in the parked travel trailer. I connected this with sensitive test equipment while also measuring current draw of the trailer, and this peaks at 1.0 amps on a sunny day, and you are aimed within 30 deg. of the sun. (It's rated 10W but I got a reliable 12+ watts under ideal conditions.) Clouds make a huge difference (this is typical). The shadow of my hand drops the output from 1.0 amps to 0.68 amps, that is, about a third less output. Be careful to not have any shadows on it. Also, after a few days of rain and pollen, the full sun output was now 0.85 amps. Wiped off with a paper towel and original results returned. This surface is smooth and flat and very easy to keep clean. One small point: you can't use this to power something directly. You need to connect it to a battery to "turn on" the output regulator - but it could be a very small 12v SLA and it would work just fine, even for a small ham radio setup on Field Day, or similar. Very happy with this product. Also, has some mounting holes in the corners in case you want to make it more of a permanent fixture.

Been using for several years now and it is great. I have yet to have either of my ...

Been using for several years now and it is great. I have yet to have either of my boat batteries die or get low on voltage. Sometimes I go several weeks or months between using the boat and the batteries are always fully charged. So the trickle charge seems to really be working. Unsure of how this would work in the winter as we get alot of snow and darkness that I switch over to an extension cord/charger for winter months since the boat isn't used for 4-5 months.

Still evaluating, seems well made, learning the LED, 5 year warranty, cig adapter NOT inluded!

So I'm evaluating the 15 watt unit. I have to disagree with some of the reviews that said it's not well made, I mean it's not made of steel but it seems well constructed to me. It's also noteworthy it has a five year warranty, what more could you ask for? I was a little surprised the cigarette lighter adapter was not included, that's "extra." So far when I first plugged it in, the LED was flashing rapidly and in a few minutes was lit solid yellow. Have not seen the green LED yet, but it's only been plugged in like 24 hours. I'm trying it on a very large battery that's used to start the V8 engine in my Caprice, I have the charger on the back deck, so we'll see how that goes being inside the car. I also noticed the LED only seems to light when there's light out, it seems to go dormant when it's dark. I thought the LED might be powered all the time by the battery, but it doesn't seem to work that way. Not an issue, just mentioning how it seems to work. So hopefully the green LED will eventually show itself! One month in, I would say this is working so far pretty well! Per Battery Tender, you won't see the green on a short winter day, the voltage has to go higher than 14.6 ish to see the green. The 15 watt model seems to be keeping my battery functional for weeks at a time with the car sitting. So far, I'm very happy...

Works Great! UPDATE REVIEW POSTED 11/20/14

I purchased a Deltran Battery Tender JR 5 years ago as well as a motorcycle battery. Both the battery tender and the battery are still going strong 5 years later, this is not a typo! Yes, I said 5 years! Anyone who owns a motorcycle (especially a Harley) knows that you typically replace batteries every 2 years. Because of the performance of my battery tender Jr I decided to pick up this Deltran Solar Panel. I recently had to move my bike to a garage with no electricity and had to install the solar panel on the outside of the garage fully exposed to the elements. I've only had it about 2 months but I must say that this solar panel has performed above expectations. We have had some of the craziest weather on record in New Jersey. Warm days, cold days, heavy rains, 50 mph winds, 3 and 4 days at a time without sunlight. Yeah, Mother Nature has been sending us all kinds of craziness. So today I decided to go to my garage and see what kind of mess this solar panel was in. At the very least I expected to find the panel damaged by all the rain we've had. To my amazement it was working perfectly! It was 2 in the afternoon and cloudy due to all the rain and the solar panel LED was green indicating a fully charged battery. The panel has not been hit with any sunlight for 2 days yet it has been able to fully maintain my 5 year old battery. Another great product by Deltran. UPDATE 3/28/2013: Here we are over a year after purchasing this Solar Panel and it continues to work great. It has been through some of the worst storms on record here in the East Coast without sustaining damage. My "very old" motorcycle battery continues to be maintained. The bike started easily even after 6 months of sitting in storage. UPDATE 11/20/14: Well, my solar charger has failed. It no longer produces enough power under direct sunlight to keep a battery charged. Contacted Deltran for repair or replacement and they were more than willing to take a look at the charger for diagnosis but it would cost me more than half the cost of a new charger in shipping so I opted to take the loss and trash it. In defense of my particular charger, it has been through some brutal weather conditions since I purchased it and I'm not really surprised it failed. I would purchase another in a heart beat. UPDATE 11/2/2015: I was going to add this update to my review last year but forgot all about it until I received a question on this item. I was able to find and fix the problem with my solar panel. Behind the panel is an access cover to the positive and negative wires. The black (ground wire) was lose. All I did was clean it off, tighten it and add a little dielectric grease. I checked the output with my multimeter on a sunny day and all worked great.

Nice unit - one hint if you intend to test voltage

I love this unit and it works like a charm. I don't know how excited I can get about a battery tender but when things work like they should it just makes life a little bit easier. I like easier. As you know the unit comes with a solar panel, charge controller and a 5 foot cord. Here are my points: 1) 5 feet isn't a very long cord. If you need longer search Amazon for a SAE battery tender extension cord. I've seen them in various lengths with 25 and 12 feet coming to mind. I believe the 12 foot was around $9. 2) If you intend to measure voltage at the leads you MUST HAVE A BATTERY WITH AT LEAST 3 VOLTS CONNECTED to the unit before it will supply a charge. I guess they do this as a safety measure but it probably also protects the battery tender from overloads. 3) The mounting hardware supplied is simply 4 screws that allow you to directly attach the solar panel to something by its 4 corners. I ended up fabricating a mount and use an articulating antenna mount. In all about another $40. This unit is sized for lawn mower or ATV type batteries. However it could certainly maintain a car or boat battery as long as there isn't a significant drain on it (and the panel is exposed to plenty of sun). A significant drain could be caused by things like some clocks, lights, alarms and such. This unit has a light on the front to indicate when it is charging and when your battery has a full charge. If the light is off it means either there is not enough sun shining on the panel. If the light is amber blinking it means a battery is not connected. If the light is solid amber it is charging. If the light is green the battery is fully charged. The unit does not require full sun to produce a charge but the more sun the better. This is a great deal for the money for a ready to go solution.

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