[Energy Miser]

I have been trolling the forums and have read several posts about people removing the alternator (through various methods). My Civic got smashed by a plow truck last month. I got paid for the damages ($3400), and I was able to keep the car. It runs and drives great but the trunk is crushed and the taillights are broken on one side. When I installed new bulbs in the holders, they all light and function right, so the car can be driven in good weather with no problems. It will now become a test mule for all the mods I care to try. I am going to start with the alternator removal first. To experiment with the idea, I unplugged my alternator so that it would not charge and I drove the car home on my normal commute (26.2 miles), with the lights off. When I reached my house my battery would still start the car, albeit weakly. I plan to approach the modification as follows;
1. Install toggle switch and relay to turn the alternator field windings on and off on demand.
2. Install a battery pack in the trunk area that is comprised of 33 – 4500 Mah Nimh batteries. The batteries are soldered together to create a cell that consists of 3 sets of 11 batteries wired in series, wired in parallel to create a 13.2 volt cell with a capacity of approximately 1.48 Ah.
3. Install a 750 watt fan cooled inverter, wired directly to the auxillary battery. The inverter will be turned on and off with a relay and a toggle switch from the dash.
4. Install a 6 amp battery charger that will draw it’s power from the inverter. This charger will be connected permanently to the cars starting battery.
5. Install a disconnect switch that will join the auxillary battery to the starting battery when desired. I envision tying the batteries together for plug-in grid charging, and leaving them disconnected for operation so that the charger, powered by the inverter, which in turn is powered by the auxillary battery, maintains the charge on the starting battery while driving.
6. Install a pair of 5 watt solar chargers, one for the auxiliary battery, one for the starting battery, to help maintain both batteries during the day on sunny days.
I have all of the components needed to make the modifications to the car, so the cost will not be a factor, but I think all the components I intend to use will run less than $350 total if purchased new. I believe it will work quite well, albeit in a somewhat Rube Goldberg manner. It should maintain the voltage required to keep the electronics in the car happy, at least until the auxiliary battery falls below 10.8 volts and the inverter shuts off automatically. With a pair of voltage gauges I will be able to monitor the voltage on both batteries and will be able to figure out how many miles can be driven with this setup before charging is required. The auxiliary charger, the inverter, and the aux battery weigh less than 25 pounds so the increased shouldn’t hurt FE too much. I have kept track of my mileage carefully over the years so I should be able to quantify exactly how much this will increase FE. The next step will be to shed as much unnecessary electrical load as possible to extend battery charge life.