Solar Roof

[gascort]

My coolest mod yet!

More photos and details than you'd ever want on my blog:
Scientific Method meets Fuel Economy: SolarArray

[Matt Herring]

That's nifty...like it! Forgive my ignorance but what are you powering in the car with the energy it generates and will it (or how will it) help FE?

[gascort]

Matt,
It's going to augment my alternatorless-ness. Nothing now - but I have plans for it. Daox, Orange4boy, and I have been working on a solution for low voltage issues.
I have a trickle charger already, but this is fun, cool, and a step toward learning about solar. I don't want to spend $500 on an inverter system until I can get a simple battery system working well.

[Matt Herring]

Thanks for the info. and was interesting reading your build blog too! Great pics and good to hear the wife is on board as well...never hurts to have a little support. Best of luck and will be following your progress!

[Christ]

How much does the setup add in weight?

Have you considered also using the hood?

How much do you think the panels you used cost?

Have you considered getting packs of "Damaged" panels from eBay?

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Christ

Have you considered also using the hood?

I wonder if the hood is a good idea. First, at certain angles it could cause more glare than the normal hood paint job, blinding the driver. Second, the hood gets warm when after the engine has been operating, and solar cells' efficiency decreases with temperature.

I'm also interested in weight.

[cfg83]

gascort -



100 Watts in 4-5 hours of sun. How many daytime alternator-less miles does this translate to?

CarloSW2

[orange4boy]

Nice roof panel! I like the tree /power lines reflection. Looks like power palm trees. Very post modern metaphor.

For 5 hours charging at 100 watts that's 40 AH theoretical before losses. Not too shabby.

I need one for my Kammback...

Keep on amping!

[Daox]

That is really sweet! I love how you have so much area you can use. I'm a bit jealous of that, haha.

Just the other day I was talking to SVOboy about doing something similar. My idea was to use my sunroof and paste the cells to the bottom side of it. This wouldn't nearly the area yours does though.

With you pumping out that many amps, you're probably gonna wanna pick yourself up a charge controller too I'd imagine.

[gascort]

Originally Posted by Christ

How much does the setup add in weight?

Basically nothing. Each "string" of 14 cells in series weighs less than one pound. I had to keep them from blowing in the wind as I lifted them up and set them in place. The plexiglass is 95+% of the added weight, and it's probably about 20 pounds. It would be about 10 pounds if I wasn't stupid and got the right thickness (the thinnest Lowes sells is much more flexible than what I got)

Originally Posted by Christ

Have you considered also using the hood?

Yes! I have one string producing 7.25V up there that I can't come up with a use for unless I add more somewhere else later. I was thinking probably the hood, or also a neat idea would be the top 6" of the windshield, where it's tinted dark blue or black anyway. Hood is the flattest, and most ideal, though.

Originally Posted by Christ

How much do you think the panels you used cost?

They were $2.50 each. Each was rated at 1.8W

Originally Posted by Christ

Have you considered getting packs of "Damaged" panels from eBay?

These are those ones from Ebay, and most looked like new. Some had chipped edges, and a couple had cracks. Even the cracked ones work fine.
I got them from ebay seller fred480V, it looks like he sells lots of solar cells from his feedback, and he's got some new ones for sale now that are way more powerful than these. His auctions state something like, "best in the world right now" or "best available on Ebay at this time"