Solar power deserves its own section on SEVA Forum, even if this is Seattle

[Eletruk]

Well, putting solar panels on my truck is something that I constantly am considering. One of the biggest issues is how to hook the power into the system. The Ford Ranger EV has the charger tightly integrated with the overall system, and the range is based on how much was put in while charging. The main problem is that the Ranger system can only handle 100AH in the software. So adding more energy may not neccesarily result in greater range. It's weird I know, but it has come up with Ranger owners that have replaced the NiMH batteries with Lithium. Even with the lower weight and greater energy storage, they can't get more mileage. And nobody has a clue how to reprogram the system. I guess I could just go ahead and tie some panels to the batteries and see if I get anything useful out of the system. The problem is how to get the voltage up to 320V to charge the batteries. I could buy a bunch of individual cells and series them all together, which might be the easiest. Otherwise, I would need a DC-DC converter that would up the voltage from 12V (or whatever the panel outputs) to the 320V I need to charge the batteries. If I can find such a device, it might be the better way to go, since it would (should) have circuit protection. I think the power output would be low enough that I don't have to be concerned about the battery cooling, NiMH batteries can get warm when charging, but if you are trickle charging, I don't see that as an issue. Anyways, as you can see, adding solar panels isn't as straightforward as it seems.

Roger