Quote:
Originally Posted by California98Civic
Haha!! Why? Seems that if there is enough power the idea would work fairly well. Here is a 100W version of the panel previously listed. It would fit on a compact car's roof. It is very thin (aero) and 100W would be a significant aid to the alternator, no? If you had the alternator on a clutch or a kill switch, you might use this for part of the time, no? It might be prohibitively pricey from a cost/benefit perspective, but it would work, no?
100w 12v,Semiflex solar panel,thin 2.5mm,Waterproof ! | eBay |
in theory it is a good plan, but something you need to think about is how they rate the panels, most are rated with the panels aimed directly at the sun, so unless it's high noon and you're somewhere in the tropics you likely won't get the rated output. also, most have a negative tolerance rating of around 10%, meaning the the rated output is correct +/-10% (90-110 Watts in this case) and this is also tested in direct sunlight and accounts for various atmospheric variables. when you factor in the aspect of likely not having direct sunlight you would probably only get 50-60 Watts out of one of those 100W panels, on an average sunny day, and significantly less on a cloudy one. now that will give you around 4-4.5 Amps while connected to your vehicle. if you could fit 3 of those on your roof you might actually make a substantial difference, but the ROI would be slow.