Quote:
Originally Posted by GeneralAnarchy
Perhaps not if it charges while decelerating and coasting downhills faster than you'd like. A mercury switch controlling a relay should capture "free" energy to some extent. Or more conservatively, a brake pedal circuit. Better the drivetrain forces the engine to spin and alternator to charge as much as possible, than all the kinetic energy turns to brake dust.
|
This is part of how I do it. I live in a foothills area. I scale and descend 200-500 foot hills repeatedly in my 11 mile commute. One is 500 feet over the course of about a mile to 1.5 miles. Hills like that become a spot for me to throw some energy back into the battery by turning on the alt for DFCO. I do this even when my battery is still close to full charge from the previous night's grid charging. Eventually, I will also have some sort of solar assist. It is working really well right now. I really couldn't be more happy with it. My battery charge stayed at 12.2 or over (when running) all day yesterday, which means my deep clycle never went below half-spent. That will help me preserve the battery long term.