Dear fellow hypermilers
Greetings from ethiopia,I have been trying to improve milage on my vehicles for a long time and I have an old diesel merc bus that uses a 12volt alternator and I was having a tough time with the old alternator breaking down at every turn and twist so I decided to chuck the old alternator and fit a 50 watt solar panel on the roof of the bus and ran the wires through a solar regulator to the battery. It has been two years and I have had no problems from the electric system or the battery.
I noticed that the bus started running faster,and I dont get any burnt out bulbs,also I noticed that the battery does not spill out any acid from the vents and there is no white powder build up on the battery terminals.Another important point to remember is that a battery being charged by solar power can last upto ten years or more due to the fact that solar power regulators are controlled by microprocessors and when the battery is full it uses a drip charge method which ensures that the battery is not strained.The battery has still not needed battery water.
Actually we are the first people to try solar power in vehicles in Ethiopia the real reason I fitted the solar panel is to create awareness among the general public about the benefits of ECO friendly solutions as there is a dire shortage of environmental awareness here.I have had people ridicule and even question the legality of my work on the bus,well I guess that is the lot of ECO friendly hypermiler everywhere.
ADVANTAGES OF SOLAR CHARGE
1.USES LESS FUEL
2.NO BURNT BULBS
3.EXTREME BATTERY LIFE
4.GARANTEED STARTING EVEN IF THE CAR IS LEFT IDLE FOR YEARS
5.FEWER FAN BELT BREAKAGE OR CHANGING
6.IF THE ALTERNATOR IS STILL ON ENGINE IT WILL LAST LONGER DUE TO THE FACT THAT YOU WILL NEED IT ONLY AT NIGHT OR WINTER[I REMOVED THE ALTERNATOR DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT IS A SCHOOL BUS AND ONLY DRIVEN DURING THE DAY TIME]
7.LESS STRAIN ON FAN BELT MEANS THAT THERE IS LESS STRAIN ON WATER PUMP BEARINGS.
8.CAN USE YOUR CAR AS AN EMERGENCY CHARGER FOR FRIEND'S FLAT BATTERY[I noticed that the solar panel fills 120amp battery within 15 to 30 min to start an engine.
9.LONGER LASTING CD PLAYER DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE NOTICED OUR CD PLAYER WAS GENERATING LESS HEAT.
10.THE BATTERY WILL BE CHARGED WHILE YOU ARE AT THE WORK.
11.DUE TO THE FACT THAT SOLAR CHARGING DOES NOT PRODUCE EXTREME VOLTAGE IN YOUR CAR'S SYSTEM ELECTRONIC GADGETS ARE NOT AT RISK.
12.HYPERMILERS WHO RUN THEIR CARS WITH THE ALTERNATOR TURNED OFF RUN THE RISK OF RUINING THEIR ALTERNATOR DUE TO THE FACT THAT IF THE BATTERY IS LOW THE ALTERNATOR IS SUBJECT TO EXTREME HEAT DURING CHARGING AND IT WILL ALSO NEED A LOT OF POWER.
13.BRAGGING RIGHTS THAT YOU ARE USING SOLAR POWER.
I hope this letter is a real help to all the hyper milers,please feel free to write for advice
yours sincerely
jarre the ethiopian hypermiler
I run a school for low income kids and have five other school buses that are ineed of solar panels because they are 24 volt systems I have to fit two panels to generate 24v,price of one solar panel is around 350 us dollars,regulator is around 70 dollars here so any donations are welcome
pls send to
GRACE KG AND PRIMARY SCHOOL
AWASH INTERNATIONAL BANK
GOFA ACCT NUMBER:0130405841500
ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA
solution for driving without alternator power
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