Solar cells on my Insight ????
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213 cells or 17.75 Watts on hood
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Ok here it is, the moment of decision that we all must face when trying to make progress.Do I ever expect this car to be brought back to stock condition again? Naaaa!
The 250 V (open circuit)panel that I built outputs 85ma of current at 180V with 56 of the mini solar panels.
The next step along the path is the integration of solar cells into the body of the Insight. The only way to put glass cells on a car body is to shock mount them so they can take some flex, and make damn sure that they will not blow off.The small 2.4" size of the mini panels allows them to somewhat follow the contour of the hood and roof.
The hood will hold 213 cells and output 17.75 watts.
The IMA pack can handle 250ma without damage. 56 cells will yield a solid 85ma at 180VDC.
3 parallel strings will yield 255ma so the hood alone
can take care of trickle charging the IMA battery.
The roof test will need to wait for a warmer day.
Aerodynamic pressures when traveling at 100 MPH can be very strong, and the cells had better not fly off.
Some interesting problems to solve, hopefully in a way that will not involve damage to the car????
Suggestions?
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