Thread: Warm air intake
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Old 03-16-2017, 01:35 AM   #31 (permalink)
Paul9
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Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Magician, you asked "Any suggestions on a 100 watt flexible panel and charger?" Maybe you are asking about a 100 watt flex panel and regulator as the panel acts as the charger?

I have a Suzuki Swift which I think is called a Geo Metro in your part of the world(?) My mates and I converted it to electric back in 2011. Since then I have been doing improvements to it to improve it's "fuel economy". One of my modifications to it was exactly what you are proposing.

In an EV we have a DC to DC converter which pulls power from the main battery bank, reduces it to 12v dc and feeds it into the auxillary battery. This replaces the alternator.

I bought a 90watt panel and a 30amp regulator. Panel is glued/bonded to the roof and feeds into the regulator on the dashboard. The DC to DC converter also feeds into the regulator and can be turned on/off with a switch on the dashboard.

I also replaced all lights except the headlights with LEDs to reduce the draw on the aux battery.

I do 95% of my driving with only the panel running the aux battery. I don't have air con in the car which I think would drain the aux battery faster than the panel could replace the power.

I did keep figures to establish the effect (if any) and it appears that it reduces power draw on the main battery bank by between 3% and 7%.

Regards
Paul

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