Battery Vehicle Society

Wandering through my local Maplin's at lunchtime, I noticed they're selling 12v 12w solar panels at half price - £49 instead of £99.

Oooh, thinks I. Me wants.

I've got a silly idea of buying four, mounting them to a mini roof rack and fitting them to my G-Wiz.

Knowing nothing at all about solar panels or how I could wire them into my G-Wiz, can anyone tell me how I'd do this, or should I leave this idea in the half-bakery?

Well its possible , anythings possible , but its only really going to put back in about 1amp , not sure if thats of much use to be honest or worth the expense.

Yes it would recharge the batts but it would take a looooong time

As for connecting them up then you would only need to wire them all up in series and bung the output on to the batt.

You could add some charge control if you want, depends really on what batts you are running, normal flooded lead acids would be fine I suspect as they would just gas a bit if they over charged a bit.

If your running any other type then I would suggest some sort of charge control to limit the current towards the end of the charge, but I suspect with just 1amp output unless the batts have just come off the mains charger then at all other times the panels wont put enough in during down time of the vehicle to re-charge the bats to full again, unless it was left over a very long time.

Hope that sort of helps ??

ChrisB

I know it would take a long time to charge up, I'm really thinking about it as much for the effect as anything else: keeping the batteries topped up when the car is not in use. I'm also wondering if it would have any benefit during the winter months when battery range is much reduced.

I'd guess that during a really sunny day I'd probably only increase the range of the car by a couple of miles or so. But I still like the idea of doing it...

Well, I've placed the order. I've done some shopping around and can get the solar panels for £33 +VAT each...

Nice one Mike , well theres no harm in having a play is there.

I've thought about this for the blingo but its just not worth doing considering the amount I would need

ChrisB

I think you should talk to Peter Perkins about this as he has already done this on his Rascal Van.
Personally I think the money would be better spent on new or batter betteries.
Peter

Don't forget that if you don't wire it to the charger side of the shunt then the bms won't notice whatever little charge you gain and it won't be reflected on the SOC gauge. also this could lead to over charging if you left it plugged in while going on holiday.

The trouble is wiring it correctly or incorrectly will invalidate your warranty!

Interesting but I would not bother again in the northern UK, nice talking point and raises lots of interest, but not very practical.

However when cells reach 50% efficency and 50% lighter in a few years, might be a real winner as my 2Msq roof could then provide 1kw in ideal conditions.

If I lived in a supper sunny climate like southern spain I might still consider onboard solar even now because I like gadgets and it makes people think about the possibilities.

Regards Peter