-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Charge with 120v DC solar
- Thread starter Achamney
- Start date
BigNick
Infamous Fat Sweaty Guy
If your battery is warm it might be like putting a conventional 12V on a "trickle charger" but if your battery needs any heat in order to charge, the 480W is not likely to be enough to warm the battery to the point where it can charge.
So the level 1 charger accepts DC as an input? Reread the panels and they are actually rated for 8 amps each. Not much sunlight here during the cold times of the year anyway so I'm not too worried about the battery heat.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
This is what I was trying to avoid. Seems like such a waste considering how inefficient inverters are.
BigNick
Infamous Fat Sweaty Guy
You'd still need an inverter to step up to your pack voltage unless you could string enough panels together in series.
You'd still need a dc-dc inverter to step up the voltage to 400v+ or whatever your pack dc voltage is.
You'd still need a dc-dc inverter to step up the voltage to 400v+ or whatever your pack dc voltage is.
Reporting back
Curiosity did not kill the cat in this scenario. I put my panels in series. Came to 130v. I hooked them up to the prongs of my charger.
Surprisingly, no pops or bangs. But also no lights on the charger. I checked the charger on the wall and it still works fine. I guess the software checks for this stupidity and just shuts down if it's DC? Who knows. But it had to be tested...
Curiosity did not kill the cat in this scenario. I put my panels in series. Came to 130v. I hooked them up to the prongs of my charger.
Surprisingly, no pops or bangs. But also no lights on the charger. I checked the charger on the wall and it still works fine. I guess the software checks for this stupidity and just shuts down if it's DC? Who knows. But it had to be tested...
I suppose another possibility is that it uses a capacitive dropper to power the circuitry. That wouldn't work with DC so the chip would just not turn on. It's a shame... Tempting to take it apart since I have a spare anyway and just force the contactor on. Although I don't know if the car has logic to protect against this.
Silicon Desert
Well-Known Member
But is is also "free" solar energy, so I wouldn't consider it a waste. There are inverters available which are VERY efficient.
Similar threads
