Solar Roof

[gascort]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I wonder if the hood is a good idea. First, at certain angles it could cause more glare than the normal hood paint job, blinding the driver. Second, the hood gets warm when after the engine has been operating, and solar cells' efficiency decreases with temperature.

Good points - I'm a bit worried about glare too - will have to test with my spare plexi.

[gascort]

Originally Posted by cfg83

gascort - 100 Watts in 4-5 hours of sun. How many daytime alternator-less miles does this translate to?
CarloSW2

The car probably uses about 300W to drive, plus more for the starter, but that's hard to quantify - I could probably look it up. Assuming 100% efficiency (which my battery and is not) it would be 1/3 of my good sun time. So probably 1.5 hours after efficiency losses and starter use. My commute is only 20 minutes each way, so I should be good without even needing my trickle charger for an average week.

[gascort]

Originally Posted by orange4boy

I need one for my Kammback...

Keep on amping!

Dude, your roof would be great! Probably 2X the area of mine unless it has a sunroof and weird bump in the middle like mine does.

[gascort]

Originally Posted by Daox

That is really sweet! I love how you have so much area you can use. I'm a bit jealous of that, haha.

Just the other day I was talking to SVOboy about doing something similar. My idea was to use my sunroof and paste the cells to the bottom side of it. This wouldn't nearly the area yours does though.

With you pumping out that many amps, you're probably gonna wanna pick yourself up a charge controller too I'd imagine.

lol, I wasn't even looking for a wagon originally. Everything about it has worked out nicely though; extra space for hauling since I got rid of my truck to buy it, extra room for baby stuff since we had a little one, easier to attach Kammback, and more room for solar array.
I want to build a charge controller. We'll see if I get it built or if I go to Ebay first.

[SVOboy]

Originally Posted by Daox

That is really sweet! I love how you have so much area you can use. I'm a bit jealous of that, haha.

Just the other day I was talking to SVOboy about doing something similar. My idea was to use my sunroof and paste the cells to the bottom side of it. This wouldn't nearly the area yours does though.

With you pumping out that many amps, you're probably gonna wanna pick yourself up a charge controller too I'd imagine.

This is exactly what I was trying to tell you to do! Exit roof, enter solar!

[wagonman76]

That's cool. Doesn't look like it would cut into your aero either. Looks great!

I could put a lot of those on the roof of the wagon. Don't think I could go alternatorless though, besides long trips, my engine is a beast compared to the Escort engine (used to have a 92 Escort wagon).

[Daox]

Originally Posted by gascort

lol, I wasn't even looking for a wagon originally. Everything about it has worked out nicely though; extra space for hauling since I got rid of my truck to buy it, extra room for baby stuff since we had a little one, easier to attach Kammback, and more room for solar array.
I want to build a charge controller. We'll see if I get it built or if I go to Ebay first.

I did some digging for you (and me). I ended up finding this. Doesn't get much cheaper than this. ~$15 for the kit shipped. It also is a dump load charge controller, so you could say... power your fan if your battery gets fully charged ah-la Prius III. That would be pretty sweet.

ghurd - Hurd Solar Renewable Energy | Dump Controllers

[gascort]

Thanks, Daox - the kit is probably the way to go - I want to get my hands dirty, so to speak, but learn how it works at the same time.
Powering the fan like the prius is a good idea, or if I eventually have an array (planned) atop my garage, I could plug the car's dump load into the inverter! Vehicle -to- Grid!
My car doesn't move much in the summer unless we go out of town; I live in the city, don't work all summer, and ride my bike or walk everywhere I can.

[gascort]

Update - after 2 days of sitting/driving in the sun, no cracks - well, no spreading of the cracks I created. I will take it on the highway tomorrow up to 70 mph so hope everything goes well. I also noticed that since this raised the back end of my roof by about 8mm(the roof curves steeply there so I put washers beneath the plexi and didn't make it conform to the roof's curve), I need to put a couple of washers under the leading edge of my Kammback - it was very perfect and smooth, but now there's a drop-off.
I got the wires ready to install a charge controller, just have to wait for a paycheck to purchase the kit that Daox pointed out.
I also decided on a use for the spare 7.5V string I have up there until I install more on the hood or Kammback - charging my daughter's EV (power wheels ATV) - it's a 6V battery.

[orange4boy]

Gascort,

If you have cracks in the plexi, drill a hole (with a dullish drill*) just at the end of the crack then fill the hole with silicone. This is a stress relief technique, that spreads the forces around the circumference of the hole. Stops cracks in their tracks...

*plastic drills should be ground so the cutting edge has a 90 degree rake. You want to scrape the plastic. A normal twist drill will dig in and force the drill through too fast, causing fractures. Barring a way to regrind, use a dullish one, go slow and watch out for overheating. A glass of water can be helpful to cool off the drill if you are doing a lot.