Solar question again. Kinda long

[kellymoe]

OK, I bought a couple of Volkswagen solar panels off Ebay for $10 each. They are 3.2 watt 18.8 volt at max out put, 170 amp.
They can probably be had for free by going to the VW dealer and asking for them. They are used in the cars as they sit in port and the dealer lots to maintain the batteries. They plug into the cigarette lighter. My truck has a twin Optima split charge system. I also have 4 accessory or ciggarette type plugs that give constant power even when the ignition is off. My question is, can I plug more than one of these solar panels into my truck at the same time? And when the primary battery reaches peak charge will it then start to charge the second battery. Any thoughts? Since these things are so cheap I couldnt pass it up.
Any solar gurus out there? I do alot of camping out in the desert and would like to take advantage of these cheap little units. They are really well built.

[Mike Hippert]

Well, These units are only meant to keep the batteries toped off. at 3.2 watts thats only 3.2W/12V=.27 amps. Not enough power to run anything, but 2 or 3 of them should keep your battery up when you Rover is left alone a couple days. yes you should be able to plug a few in, but even 10 of them is only 2.7 amps, you would not be able to run much off of them.

As far as charging the second battery it depends on how your batteries are tied together. If they are just put in parallel together then it would charge them at the same time.

[Tom Morrison]

I'm sure with my setup (wild-horses) that when the key is off, the batteries are isolated from each other so only one of my batteries (aux one) could be charged.

[kellymoe]

Thanks for the reply. I new it wasnt much but my truck smoethimes sits for quite a while. I will eventualy buy a more powerful panel. For now I think this will keep them from going dead at home and when out in the sticks. :idea

Kevin