Can Solar Recover a Flat or Degraded Vehicle Battery?
A vehicle solar battery maintenance system is designed to help prevent battery discharge, not to recover or repair a battery that is already flat or degraded.
Solar can replenish energy being consumed by ongoing electrical loads and help maintain a healthier battery state of charge over time. However, a solar panel cannot reverse degradation or damage that has already occurred within a lead-acid battery.
That’s why we believe the best time to install a battery maintenance solar system is when the vehicle is new, before repeated periods of low state of charge have had an opportunity to affect battery health.
Why Fit a Solar Battery Maintenance System from Day One?
The greatest benefit comes from fitting a solar battery maintenance system when the vehicle is new, so the battery receives the benefit from the very beginning of its working life.
Importantly, battery discharge can start before the vehicle even enters service. New commercial vehicles can spend extended periods parked during the build and conversion process – at bodybuilders, van converters, dealerships or depots – while onboard electrical systems are already drawing power.
We know from working with vehicle converters and bodybuilders that vehicles sometimes need to be jump-started during this period because they have been stationary for so long. By the time the completed vehicle reaches the fleet operator, its battery may already have experienced periods of significant discharge.
Lead-acid batteries can deteriorate when they spend repeated or prolonged periods at a low state of charge. Installing solar at the start of the original vehicle build means the battery can begin receiving a maintenance charge as soon as the system is commissioned, rather than waiting until battery problems have already developed.
This is why we encourage fleets, OEMs and vehicle converters to think about solar as a preventative battery-health solution from day one, rather than something to retrofit only after flat batteries become an operational problem.
Protecting Battery Health Over the Vehicle Lifetime
The purpose of a battery maintenance solar system is preventative rather than remedial.
Over the lifetime of a commercial vehicle, the battery can be exposed to thousands of hours of ongoing electrical demand from connected equipment, including during periods when the vehicle isn’t being driven. By harvesting available daylight to help offset these loads and maintain battery charge, solar can reduce the frequency and severity of low-state-of-charge events, supporting better battery health and potentially extending battery life.
Maintaining a healthier state of charge from the start can help reduce premature battery degradation, extend battery life and reduce the likelihood of battery-related downtime and replacement over the vehicle’s operating life.
Read more about how vehicle solar can prolong the life of lead acid batteries.
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