I have a 48 volt club car that has 4 12 volt batteries.
Has anybody ever put a solar charger on one of these? I’m not trying to replace my regular charger just a small solar panel ( or maybe 2) to help keep it charged. Something that will charge it while it is in use.

Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) with this setup? Any suggestions on how to do it or a certain system to use?

Sold by the world renowned electric golf cart experts at Walmart:
solar charger

I tried a solar charger on my trailer and later on my RV both times did not get good results.
The one on my trailer would not even keep the small battery for my security system charged.

I bought 2 large ones for my RV one for house batteries and one for Chassis battery set. One of them failed and quit charging in about 9 months. I do not know if it was panel or inverter that failed but was not impressed with durability of them.

I think the one above would be great if it works and lasts but I am not sure it will.

Im not aware of anything that would really be effective. I can't really think of a situation where it would be needed, either, unless your batteries are near end of life.

The absolute best thing you can do is ensure it is plugged up and charging when not being ridden. I got just shy of 10 years on my 36v EZGo. Need to finally replace those. I have a 48v CC at the beach and i can pretty much ride it all day on a charge, but when I get back to the house for any amount of time it gets plugged in (even if just for 20 minutes).

I did see a golf cart when I was in Miami. It was a 3 rower. The roof was lined with solar panels front to back. Not just screwed in but look professionally part of the roof. Thought that was a neat idea for an electric cart.

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quote:

Originally posted by Curly1:
I tried a solar charger on my trailer and later on my RV both times did not get good results.
The one on my trailer would not even keep the small battery for my security system charged.

I bought 2 large ones for my RV one for house batteries and one for Chassis battery set. One of them failed and quit charging in about 9 months. I do not know if it was panel or inverter that failed but was not impressed with durability of them.

I think the one above would be great if it works and lasts but I am not sure it will.

I have two panels on the race car trailer roof, one charges the race car battery, the other charges the trailer battery. They’ve been up there for about seven years now, still going strong. Had one on the roof of our old motorhome for 6 years, picked up a diesel pusher and that will get a panel too, probably a larger one. Everything else is 30 or 35 watt panels going through a battery tender solar charge controller. I’ve measured over 2 amps at the battery while charging.

For a golf cart I think you’d want the largest panel you could fit up there for it to make any difference, 4 batteries have a lot of capacity to recharge. Putting a few amps on it while you’re driving isn’t going to get much more drive time. I also might be worried about flex/vibration hurting the panel, but then again not everyone races around the motocross track with their golf carts like we do