Feasability of going from gas to only electric

[oil pan 4]

Since I build DC power supplies as needed...
A generator like that runs close to 250VAC. If rectified the peak voltage would only be about 350 volts.
If the voltage could be turned up to around 277v you would have useable 370v power.
You would also need a big high voltage capacitor to make it more of a constant voltage power source.
Some kind of charge regulation should be used.
I bought mine used with 1 hour on it for $1,100 cash, retail is around $3,000.
Continuous loading should be kept undwr 15kw.

[sendler]

A 24kWh rechargeable battery is a mighty big cap to a 15kW generator. And the driver is the regulator if the battery started to get full. Shut off the Gen set until needed again.
.
I guess you would actually need the dc peak of the generator higher than the desired cruising voltage to get any power out of it. And let the massive battery smooth it. dc peak of 400v with lots of poles.

[Erasmo]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

You need at least 220w worth of panel for every 1kwh you hope to collect per day.

The flexible 100 watt panels I have measure about 30x40 inches. Multiply that by at least 120 to get 5kw.
I would bet on a generator and fuel as opposed to solar panels and sun for this application.

You might just want to get a generator trailer.

All off grid solar people have a backup generator. Or at some point they kill their batteries and/or go without any power.

Cheap made in China department store panels use OCV times short circuit amps to figure their over rating.
Reputable manufacturers use working volts times working amps.
So they are not over rated nearly as badly.

Good manufactures use standard test conditions when rating pv(irradiance of 1,000 W/m², solar spectrum of AM 1.5 and module temperature at 25 °C)

Originally Posted by Isaac Zackary

17 feet? What do you mean? I estimate on an 8ft wide trailer that every 10ft is about 1kW. So if it's 20ft it would be 2kW. Then let's say it was three 8' x 20' panels stacked on top of each other that I could slide out and turn into a 6kW array. Of course on a cloudy day that could be as little as 10%, or 600W. Also, could you imagine towing an 8' x 20' trailer with a Leaf!

Or I could make 24 4' x 5' individual solar panels. If they're 1" or less thick that could fit in the Leaf.

I did some napkin math for you using Alta cells which claim to be able to churn out 260Wp/m2.

A quick Google session learns that the roof dimensions of a Leaf are 1.65m2, lets include the hood and and you should be able to put 2 square meters on the leaf alone, getting about 500W while driving in the sun.

To fill the remaining 6kW and be able to charge while driving you'll need a theoretical trailer that has a surface area of 23m2.
If you only want to charge while parked you could use a folding system and fold it twice and then the dimensions becomes 5,75m2 which is regular trailer size.

You're still counting on the available daylight to charge and the setup above wouldn't be cheap and of course towing a trailer eats the range.

So unless you want to do an adventure like crossing coast to coast on only self generated solar I'd put the pv on the roof of your house for now.

Well maybe cover the roof of your Leaf, it may not be the most cost-effective solution but it does add a lot of coolness to your car

[sendler]

How convenient. IT is moving towards 400vDC.
.
https://www.vertivco.com/globalasset...work-power.pdf
.

[freebeard]

Maybe a contactor?

[Isaac Zackary]

I did my first "mod" today to my Leaf.

Snow chains.

They helped my improve my range from 3ft to all the way home.

[freebeard]

My last post makes no sense (moreso than usual). Did someone post a list of electrical components that didn't include a contactor, or was it all a dream?

I woke up yesterday and realized I should fetch a pair of rims from upriver, and mount a set of 50% rubber snow tires on them. So, now I'm waiting until I don't need them to do that.

[Stubby79]

Originally Posted by freebeard

My last post makes no sense (moreso than usual). Did someone post a list of electrical components that didn't include a contactor, or was it all a dream?

And here I thought I had missed something. Your post made nooooo sense to me whatsoever. Sounds like a fun game though.

Spork.

[Isaac Zackary]

I drove all day with the tire chains on and even then got stuck in a snow drift! 30 minutes of shoveling and 3% of battery power and I was good to go.

Other than that the Leaf is doing pretty good. I do find that the charging door wasn't apparently made for blizzards. It keeps getting packed full of snow every time I plug in.

I ran the heater in the car for about 6 hours today. It does take a toll on the range but it's sure nice to not have to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning. I've decided to charge up to 100% each night until the weather gets better. I'm also opportunity charging more, which helps quite a bit.

Next thing I really need to do is get that 240V EVSE upgrade.

[Isaac Zackary]

If there's one thing I think Nissan did wrong on the Leaf it's the preheating/cooling system.

The idea is great. Heat or cool your car using the charging power before you unplug it and go somewhere. That way you can have a comfy ride and not have to use the heater or A/C using battery power, or at least not as much.

But Nissan only made two ways of using this technique, and neither are conventional. Normally you'd either get in the car and start it, then lock the doors and go back into your house, or use a remote start. But the Leaf doesn't use either. One way in the Leaf is to set a climate control timer. But that's only good for once per day, and at a specific moment, unless you like going out to the car every odd time you want to go somewhere and spending ten minutes in sub-zero weather to program the timer so that it will heat up on charger power. The other method is by means of the NissanConnect (formerly CarWings) website or app which then uses AT&T 2G towers to communicate with the Nissan Leaf and turn on the climate control. This used to work on my Leaf if I had cellphone service, until January 1st of this year when AT&T eliminated it's 2G service.

If I get into the Leaf and try to start it with the car plugged in so that I can turn on the heater, it doesn't work. The heater won't turn on. It just blows cold air. Last Saturday it was -28°F/-33°C when I got up. I ended up just unplugging the car and then turning it on and the defroster. I waisted 10% of my battery just to get the windshield defrosted.

I wonder if there's a mod to get around this.

Suggestions???