After years of complaining to LR that I could not connect up my £11 Maplin solar panel trickle charger to any of my post 2011 Land Rover products the recent visit by LRA to revive a totally flat battery has revealed the secret of connecting up this sort of charger. Please note these chargers require daylight NOT full sun to work and are intended for long term stored vehicles not those that loose their charge overnight (they have another problem!) and is ideal if you are leaving the car in say an airport carpark for 2-3 weeks or like I do, leave the car on the drive for 3-4 months undriven because I cannot get it near to a power point yo plug in my CTek battery conditioner

Connection is very simple:
A) Open the bonnet and on the left on top of the wheel arch there are two posts (the + is under a plastic cover with a hinged cover) the negative/ earth is adjacent to and in front of that - Connect your cables to these - red to the +, black to the -

B) Land Rover has made some very nice little gaps in the various underbonnet mouldings and seals that enable the cables to be neatly led from the engine bay through the door seals into the cabin





So they become invisible from the outside


C) Inside the car the panel I have has enough cable to either put it on top of the dash or onto of the centre cubby box, however if you don’t have a panoramic roof you will have to use the dash top to ensure enough daylight reaches rhe panel
The panels require amazingly little daylight - I have left them inside a FFRR with the car totally buried under 10cms of snow cover and the little blue charging light can still be seen winking away! On my Defender which is in a large agricultural shed with very dirtying clear corrugated Perspex roof windows there has been enough daylight that this morning after 3 months hooked up the defender started 1st turn of the key.





It is also possible to connect direct to the battery which is in the car’s boot, under the suspension compressor, but to get at the terminals may require removal of the compressor to open the + terminal cover (that was what LRA was going to try but there was the problem that with a flat battery you cannot open the powered tailgate or the glovebox..........) 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Hi Tim,
glad you put the pictures of the engine bay to door

I have in the past used the tow socket to charge (bike optimate) but new car, although has tow gear I have re-fitted the original rear panel so can not easily access the tow socket

I have connected to the "pegs" under the bonnet but thought the gap in the rubber seal just allowed the cable to pass outside the bonnet, not as your pics to be concealed

 Porsche Cayenne 2022
gone Porsche Cayenne 2020
gone Corris Grey HSE Dynamic 2016
gone Ipanema HSE lux 2010
gone Rimini HSE 2005
!!

Was there a specific reason to move battery to boot after L320 model? Or is it a extra one for stop/start use?  John

RRS MY12 SDV6 HSE. Sumatra Black/Ebony & Walnut + Dynamic Pack, + Cold Climate Pack + Memory Pack, Digital TV/DVD, Premium Leather, Cornering Lights, Cooler/Fridge Box, & most Options.

It is the main battery and I have no idea why it was moved other than a guess that there wasn’t enough room in the engine bay? I do think that moving the suspension compressor into the boot was a good idea - at least now it is away from the wet and road dirty so filters etc won’t (hopefully) clog up so easily, and it is inaudible inside the car too yet there is only the boot floorboard that covers the spare wheel to insulate the cabin from any noise when it is running. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Oops double post 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Last edited by Tim in Scotland on Fri Oct 20 2017 11:13pm. Edited 1 time in total

Never understood why they put the air compressor on the out side, open to damage and the elements. My brother-in-laws 2004 vogue the air compressor's in the boot, and 10 mins to service and remove the unit for maintenance.

you could plug solar panel it to the rear aux socket and avoid croc clips and in the in car cable routing.

you just need to make the rear aux socket perm live by removing and jumping the aux relay.

the solar panel can then sit on the parcel shelf and then its cable routing is easy and well hidden.

Note. Its not unknown for the diode to fail short circuit (sc) in the solar panels when subject to higher opposite alternator voltage, if the fail s/c the solar panel can drain the battery very quickly.

So best to disconnect the panel before starting the car!

another reason why you are far better with a battery maintainer and charge the car up right up before long periods of rest/parking.

the drain current on the l494 seems to very low compared to previous land rovers so sitting for weeks should be easily achievable on a good full charged battery

Not sure how to re-enable the rear socket but also I have privacy glass which reduces the amount of light getting to the solar panel. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Tim in Scotland wrote:

It is the main battery and I have no idea why it was moved other than a guess that there wasn’t enough room in the engine bay? I do think that moving the suspension compressor into the boot was a good idea.

Thanks a lot Tim, for taking time to reply to my query.  John

RRS MY12 SDV6 HSE. Sumatra Black/Ebony & Walnut + Dynamic Pack, + Cold Climate Pack + Memory Pack, Digital TV/DVD, Premium Leather, Cornering Lights, Cooler/Fridge Box, & most Options.

Hi,

I did exactly this on our 16MY A/B while on a recent 3 week holiday to the USA.

Dis-connected in the Heathrow car park before starting - no problems.

Scrumps Somerset - Where the apples do grow and the cider do flow!
2021 Defender 90 D250 HSE in Tasman with white roof.
24MY D300 AB - Verasine Blue - 😀
19MY SDV6 AB - Byron Blue - Gone
17MY D5 SDV6 HSE - Firenze Red - Gone
16MY SDV6 AB -Aruba Silver - Gone
13.5MY SDV6 "HSE Black" - Baltic Blue - Gone
10MY TDV8 HSE Galway Green - Gone
14MY D4 HSE in Scotia Grey - Gone
05 TD5 D90 CSW in Cairns Blue

Oh yes it’s really important for your solar panel not to start the car with the panel still connected............ not good for the life of the electronics in the panel! 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

I have just bought an AA branded solar panel trickle charger as it the only one i found that connects to the OBD port inside the car. This saves all the messing about running wires when you get to the airport car park.
I have left the car for 2 plus weeks at the airport and it was fine, just goggle AA solar charger for details, or follow the link below:
https://shop.theaa.com/store/home/car-battery-solar-charger

Happy charging

I was looking at these at local motor factors £15 plus vat which is a good price if it works & easy to plug into obd.

Andy Andy.
21 Ford Ranger
Gone but not forgotten
Focus RS Red Edition
2015 RRS AB Fuji.
2014 RRS SC Santorini
2016 VW Amarok
2014 RRS AB Fuji
2012 RRS Red Edition Fuji
2015 Nissan Navara
2012 RRS SE Santorini
2008 RRS White
2007 RRS Santorino

Assuming you can find the OBD port now!!! MY16 3.0 SDV6 Autobiography in Aleutian silver, stealth pack and toys.