Quote:
Originally Posted by Piotrsko
I would think a comsumption survey would be handy here. If the device producing watts hours is significantly lower than the watts hours consumed, eventually the electical system shuts down to undervoltage
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I already did that. With the engine running and no accessories on, the car uses around 8 amps, about 5 of which is the fuel pump and the remaining 3 is the ECU, sensors, ignition system, gauge cluster, etc. With no accessories on, I should have around 8 hours of range on a full charge just off the battery.
For most of my driving, I have nothing on but the stock radio, which only draws another couple amps. Turning on my LED low beams adds about another 3 amps, bringing the total to around 13 amps for engine running with radio and low beams on. With a 13 amp load, I should have around 5 hours of range just off the battery.
Assuming a 10 amp load and rated output from the solar panel, I should be getting around 3.5 amps from the 50 watt panel, effectively only drawing 6.5 amps from the battery. At that rate, for every hour I drive, the car would need to sit in the sun for about 2 hours to fully recharge. Real world output will obviously be somewhat less, but without testing, it's hard to say how much less.
The good news is since I don't drive a lot at the moment, I rarely take long trips, I have a very large deep cycle battery, and the car sits outside 24/7, taking a few hours or a day to fully recharge after a trip won't be a problem for me. And worst case scenario, I don't mind connecting my AC charger and/or turning on the alternator, which I will probably wire to a switch on the dash for convenience.