Solar battery top up chargers

[S500 Pete]

Hi,
I am going away for a few months and was thinking of putting a solar charger in the front window of my car. Problem is that they all seem to come with crocodile clips and/or lighter socket plugs.
The lighter socket on my car is not live when ignition is off and I don't really want to trail a wire out of the door and under the bonnet to pick up the charge points there.

Any ideas on how to connect in the car or make my lighter socket permanently live.

Also, ideas on the sort of wattage required. 10 to 20 watts are pretty reasonably priced

 

[Blobcat]

I had one on the VW Caravelle and moved it to the Smart when I sold the VW - both I clipped directly to the battery - If you're careful you can close the bonnet/boot/door on the cable without crushing it (and letting water in) - Some come with OBD port connectors, although connecting power into the OBD port can be a recipe for blown modules so I wouldn't recommend it (even though the power is almost insignificant)

Whilst the output is ridiculously small I found it was enough to keep the battery up even for an extended period.

 

[mioba]

 

[S500 Pete]

As a follow up to this. We got home after 3 months of winter sun with the panels propped against the windscreen and plugged in via the OBD port. Both cars started fine.

 

[s5tuart]

I had one for my SL.
I bought an ODB connector, soldered the two power wire connections and it was all good.

 

[richlumb]

I think Ctek do a solar panel that’s compatible with their plug system and you can connect the adapter direct to the battery plug and play

SOLAR PANEL CHARGE KIT

40-463

www.ctek.com

 

[Chrishazle]

Halfords connected a 12v battery to the OBD port of my S204 as part of their (then) procedure for changing the battery. After the battery change, car would start but gearchange would not work, had to use the emergency release to get the car to my indie, 2 days of hassle, cost Halfords about £170 for my indie to fix - which Halfords refunded without problem. They also sent out a nationwide alert to all stores!

 

[Snake Charmer]

They also sent out a nationwide alert to all stores!

Something along these lines.... Link