Solar panels - Direct charging and battery life

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ramonegumpert
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Dear Experts

There are solar charging devices in the market for electronic devices.

These contain some electronics which I suppose is to regulate the power or as controller.

Lets say I have a 6 volts device and I have a solar panel rated at 6v.

If without any electronic controller, I just hook up the panel to the device, will this sort of what i call 'direct' charging affect the device's battery life? If so, in what way ?

Thank you for reading my post.

I wish you a nice weekend.

regards
Ramone
 
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It depends on the current that is produced, as you might expect. A small solar panel is unlikely to damage a car battery, for example.

However, directly connecting a solar panel to a battery is not a good idea because the solar panel can draw current from the battery during the night.
A diode or some other method of stopping this reverse current is usually added. Your controller would already include this.
 
Thanks so much Vk6kro!