Thread: Integrate Solar Energy in your CarPC Project

I really like the idea of using solar panels to power your car pc. "Free" power

Definitely let us know how this works out for you... you've got me thinking of places I could put solar panels in my car...

Originally Posted by Xygar

I really like the idea of using solar panels to power your car pc. "Free" power

Definitely let us know how this works out for you... you've got me thinking of places I could put solar panels in my car...

Yeah the other day when I was at the lake this would have been great to have. Not only free but portable power. I plan to do some testing with a few solar kits prior to installing/integrating in my car.

Originally Posted by hexxamillion

I thought about the trickle charger but....I prefer something not so bulky especially all up on my dash. I leave my eeepc in the car plus ensuring the laptop battery charge will prevent me from having to take it inside to recharge.

Aside from all that.. I'm interested in this as something a little different and fun to do. I also want a more expandable solar setup (could be used for other devices or integrations apart from the eeepc) which is also why I chose against the trickle charger.

I am still looking into connecting my eeepc directly to the car battery for now....but why limit myself to just that

I went with a solar trickle charger, works good, but I doubt it would really
charge a dead or half dead laptop battery in under a few days to a week

I got a Coleman 5-Watt Solar panel, I put it under my rear window
its wired into a power distribution block, that connects the cars battery
to the amp and computer in my trunk

The only thing there good for, at least for me, is keeping the battery
topped off, and giving me a little more run time with the motor off,

BTW it also helps to replace any incandescent lamps with led ones, saves
a lot of power

Also the cars 12v system is noisy and can go way above and below 12v
so even if your EeePC takes 12v don't just plug it straight in, use
an automotive adapter made for your EeePC

Originally Posted by will1384

I went with a solar trickle charger, works good, but I doubt it would really
charge a dead or half dead laptop battery in under a few days to a week

I got a Coleman 5-Watt Solar panel, I put it under my rear window
its wired into a power distribution block, that connects the cars battery
to the amp and computer in my trunk

The only thing there good for, at least for me, is keeping the battery
topped off, and giving me a little more run time with the motor off,

Yeah I am not using a trickle charger. Plus I have dark limo tint in my car so back window is not an option for me. But you did provide some useful suggestions and details that I will keep in mind.

My plan is to install a solar solution that is not limited to just powering or charging my eeepc.

If anyone else is looking into solar charging their eeepc, check out this thread on eeeuser. Very informative- http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=626194

I have not abandoned this project, but will continue it later because I am redesigning my CarPC installation. Stay tuned.. feel free to post any ideas you have for integrating solar power in your car.

Originally Posted by hexxamillion

UPDATE: This thread originally started as a project to solar charge your laptop/netbook in the car. I now have a new CarPC project in progress and decided to update this thread to integrating solar energy in your CarPC project to make it more diverse.

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Ok so my next major enhancement to my project is to use solar energy to keep my Eeepc charged. I thought I would post this here since its related to power and I will link to this post in my worklog.

**Of course your car needs to be in good sunlight in order to use this and my car is always in the sun so why not use it.Where I live there is plenty of Sun to go around...maybe a little too much

I will post my brainstorm diagram image later. In the meantime here are my source references on the major components I plan to use:

1. Solar Battery w/ Charge Controller
2. Two 6v flexible solar panel to equal 12v

More or less...I am a newbie to Solar energy but I think starting small with a project like this one will be a great start...My car is green in color, why not make my electronics green


******** EDIT ***********

Alrighty..here are my 'rough' brainstorm images/diagram

One of my ideas for placement of the flexible solar panels is fused to the bra somehow. The company that manufactures these also does custom for OEM projects and I am hoping they can fabricate these in black. There may be a concern regarding pebbles or debris. These panels are supposedly designed with 'rugged' in mind. Why not put to the test and see. Fortunately for me I do not do a lot of highway driving so this may not be a huge concern for now.




This is my ...more or less.. layout or scheme



Any thoughts or other ideas please share and post away!

I would like to relocate this thread to the worklogs section of the forums.

my solar integration in v70





normal utilization,recharger ,carpc etc







for freezer in summer

How many watts does your system put out? Aside from the experimentation factor, this would only be practical for me if it was able to supply enough power to run the system without a battery. I don't leave the iPhone in the car when I park it - I take it with me and use the car to top off the charge on the phone.

Perhaps you intend to extend the life of the system on standby, so that's another use for solar. I think it might be useful for one of the Sheeva plugs I've been experimenting with (6 watts max draw). It might be possible to keep the system online for long periods of time on a small lead acid battery with a solar system to supplement. It would probably eventually go dead anyhow but it might last quite a bit of time and the car could recharge it every now and then.