Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Solar Panel Working...

The Little Solar Panel I installed for the 32 Ah Accessory Battery brought the Battery up from a Post-Charge Voltmeter No-Load Reading of 14.00 volts at 7:30 in the morning of My 24th, up to 14.81 Volts at 9:45 this morning, while the car was sitting in the cloudy weather we have been getting!

So - I turned on the key - switched on the Headlights, and pumped the Brakes to drain the Vacuum and activate the Automatic 12V Electric Vacuum pump, and Tail Lights - so as to drain down some of the extra power in the Accessory Battery.

This brought it back down to a no-load level of 12.79 Volts, but was already starting to go back up while I watched the Voltmeter.
(Remember - this is just a little 1.8 Watt Solar Panel I bought some time ago at Canadian Tire.)

I will check back on it later to see what is the result of today - since it is a Bright Sunny Day!

I also plan on doing a demo charge at a local gas station - I talked with the manager and he would like to see the car, and while it doesn't need a charge right now - I figured that is easiest to do a quick demo for them - using my plug in energy meter to show just how much power I used.

I'd recommend this little energy meter to anyone that wants to know how much power they use for any plug in item.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I am very intrested to find out how to build solar panels,Solar panels will remain a very good choice to reduce your energy costs, and reduce your carbon footprint on the environment; Innovative solar panel design and technology affect fast market,It's really great example with video, Thanks for sharing..Keep Blogging!!!Earth4Energy

Electricfly said...

What would be nice, though I have not seen it presented as an Instructable, a Youtube or Other Video, or even a 'for sale' info package, would be a 'How to do a Solar Roof for your Hard Top Sedan, Hatchback, Wagon, or other vehicle!'

My Panels are simple retail ones, not custom built ones, so they are a bit rough in terms of integration!