[joshg678]

David,
Very nice work on the battery box, looking very good.
One thing my father always has mention to me in one of his ramblings about car makers, is have you considered using solar panels to help recharge the batteries while you sit in traffic or while your car sits while your at work?
I don't know a lot about electrical stuff, but i wouldn't know if there could be enough energy generated by solar energy to work with the electrical system on the car. Thoughts?

[david85]

Originally Posted by joshg678

David,
Very nice work on the battery box, looking very good.
One thing my father always has mention to me in one of his ramblings about car makers, is have you considered using solar panels to help recharge the batteries while you sit in traffic or while your car sits while your at work?
I don't know a lot about electrical stuff, but i wouldn't know if there could be enough energy generated by solar energy to work with the electrical system on the car. Thoughts?

Hey, welcome to the forum. Glad you got the account working.

Mounting solar panels has been done before, but it requires a long time to get the car fully charged, to the order of a week for one drive usually. Newer "high tech" EVs like the fisker karma and aptera use form fitted solar panels on the roof mainly to regulate the interior temperature while the car is parked but it will also maintain the battery so in theory it will add a slight improvement in range.

I have heard of a guy in arizona (LOTS of sun there) that had a chevy S10 truck converted to electric with a 7' bed cover made of solar cells. His drive to work was less than 15 miles so he was able to get close to zero plug in time by parking it in the sun.

The ultimate solution is to fit a solar collector on your home as big as will fit (or can afford) and use that to offset the cost of recharging at night. The form fitted cells are also more expensive than the larger bulky flat panels that are installed on house roofs.

In principle it is possible to directly power the car, but the results would be limited. Now if PV cells could be pushed from 20% efficiency past 80%, then Solar Powered cars might be possible if they were litterally painted with PV cells and were very light and aerodynamic, but thats a long way off. If your house can charge your car off of Solar Power, the same results and low operating cost would be the same as a direct solar car though only with more collection area, and that is happening right now.

[DIYguy]

Nice job on the battery box's David. Being a welder/fitter comes in handy.

What kind of welder do you have at home?

cheers.

[david85]

I may not speak french but I am fluent in Mig and Tig wielding (aluminum and steel) lol. Aluminum and Tig are my favorite to work with. I used a mix of mig and tig wielding on the box. Longer more consistent wields were done with mig. Shorter wields with inconsistent gaps required a bit more control, so I used the Tig there.

[joshg678]

Thanks for the welcome.
I am not too worried about keeping the interior of the car cool during the day, but more so charging the car, even if its just a trickle.

I drive about 80 miles a day round trip. However i usually need my head lights 1/2 of the time, which would lower the mileage on an electric car. Since my car can be parked on the top of the parking garage at work, i could be in direct sunlight for most of the day. If the car had solar panels on the roof and or hood of the car, how much juice do you think the car could get during the day when the car is off?
Also a lot of the driving i do is sitting in traffic going 10-20mph (gotta love the DC area) which i would think an EV would not need much juice during this time and if the sun is still shining it could help improve the range and lessen the demand on the home power to charge the car at night.
Does this seem like a solution that could be achieved or not?

[DIYguy]

Originally Posted by david85

I may not speak french but I am fluent in Mig and Tig wielding (aluminum and steel) lol. Aluminum and Tig are my favorite to work with. I used a mix of mig and tig wielding on the box. Longer more consistent wields were done with mig. Shorter wields with inconsistent gaps required a bit more control, so I used the Tig there.

I can relate... I'm a jouneyman welder, Alberta registered. I don't do it every day though. I worked in Welding Engineering technology for 20 years after that. I always enjoyed TIG on Al also. The AC reverse polarity half cycle keeps that puddle clear like a little pond.

[dtbaker]

Originally Posted by david85

I used a 5" angle grinder with a steel cut off wheel to make the rough cut,

I used an angle grinder to make the plunge cuts long enough to stick in the sawzall... and ZIPPP opened it up like a can of tuna.

[dtbaker]

Originally Posted by joshg678

how much juice do you think the car could get during the day when the car is off?

A full size 2x5 panel will be rated anywhere from 185-210 watts. If you get it at a good angle, you get maybe 3 hours close to than, and then another hour or two at reduced production. If the panel is flat on the roof, then you gotta cut down the max possible by the reduced area catching sun.

My guess would be under the BEST conditions, with panel to sun, you'd get maybe .5 to .75 kWhr per day. On my house setup, with 24 x 210 w panels at 30 degrees, I get between 20-30kWhr per day depending on sun and time of year.

[rctous]

awesome battery box David light and strong,,

B

[david85]

Originally Posted by joshg678

Thanks for the welcome.
I am not too worried about keeping the interior of the car cool during the day, but more so charging the car, even if its just a trickle.

I drive about 80 miles a day round trip. However i usually need my head lights 1/2 of the time, which would lower the mileage on an electric car. Since my car can be parked on the top of the parking garage at work, i could be in direct sunlight for most of the day. If the car had solar panels on the roof and or hood of the car, how much juice do you think the car could get during the day when the car is off?
Also a lot of the driving i do is sitting in traffic going 10-20mph (gotta love the DC area) which i would think an EV would not need much juice during this time and if the sun is still shining it could help improve the range and lessen the demand on the home power to charge the car at night.
Does this seem like a solution that could be achieved or not?

I'm sorry to say, not really....

If you were to use all the best technology available today, it would have some effect, but compared to the cost of such a system, it would probably never pay for itself because space age panels don't come cheap and even if they did, the power generated would not be enough to add more than a few miles on a sunny day. If you were unable to recharge at worrk, your only other option is to go to a more advanced battery than just lead golf car batteries. That way, you can recharge at home and confidently drive to and from work on a single charge. 40 mile commute? dang....

Do you know what your electricity rates are? Powering the car direct from your home may not cost as much as you think.

Its not cheap, but the cost of lithium batteries is still comming down, and the global recession seems to be pushing the price down even more as oil stays relatively cheap. There are some numbers that are leaking out that suggest a battery needed for a 100 mile range could be had for under $10000, it could last more than 10 years, and is maintenance free.

If you want to build an EV like this some day, you might not have to wait much longer. I'll keep my results public when the car is done, and real world performance numbers will be easier and easier to find in the years ahead as more EV enthusiests try out the newer offshore lithium batteries. All the news so far seems to be limited, but generally good.

Stick around, because I think these could be some exiting times comming up