[HaroldFerrier]

Originally Posted by silvermazda

I was interesting in solar panels some time ago, but the 1-5Watt ones never peaked my interest as 5w divided by 12V equals about 1/2 an amp and they were costly 20-50 dollars a panel. No point.

I recently found about peltier coolers, but those dont generate much. I though about hooking up 10 to the top of the radiator, enough heat (~180*F), though I am not sure if it will work with out a heat sink on the other side, will it?

Recently I found a flexible 100W solar panel on amazon for $200 bucks, almost twice the cost of the conventional flat ones. I need it flexible to place it on the trunk of the car, plus its only a few MM thick. Bonus! and not aero penalties. 100W is about 8amps. I am unsure how many my car eats, but I estimate a good 10. And I've been reading the constant drain/no alternator thread, so I am guessing this will be a 10% improvement/ 3mpg increase. What do you guys think?

Okay calculated that if mpg goes from 30 to 33. It would take 16.6K miles to pay back the 200 bucks. Or 3 yrs. (by the way, wasn't there a calc around here that would calculate when a mod would break even?)

Sounds very effective.. Well I will try out the method and hope for some fine results..