Who needs solar?

[SoulRaven]

a solar system has to be designed for what you need. Enough battery bank, with enough solar watts. But with the new generator that runs on baking soda and water, who needs solar.

Greetings!

That's about cars, not generators, and it's not perfected YET...

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

---

Baking soda is bad on the metal plates and over time - will eventually turn into NaOH (most people who swear by baking soda don't know that part) That is what happens to eat up the heads, the hydrogen storage tank, the production tank, and all related systems... That is why this is theory and not real product that is being sold on the market. The perpetual motion machine has not been invented. Just displayed on YouTube where people are not able to see the guts being eaten up by the corrosive action.

Greetings!

Huh!?!?!?! We're talking about baking soda (sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate) <b><u>NOT</u></b> caustic soda / lye (sodium hydroxide)<b><i>!</i></b>

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[Zil]

Yes. No chlorine in these compounds. No caustic in the decomposition of baking soda. In water treatment sodium chloride brine is used with electricity to generate chlorine gas.
Not perfected. dang. I had a small submarine when a child. It would go up and down in the sink full of water. It was powered by baking soda. You would think that They harnessed that movement by now.
Early days of stock cars a water atomizer before the carburetor gave more speed to the engine. Chevy iron nail or ford v8.

 

[GotSmart]

The reaction happens when the gas reacts with the metal. That is what eats up the system!

I had one of those subs also. It was plastic. One day it did not rise out of the well.

Boy was I unhappy!

 

[Lucky mike]

LOL.......sometimes when the subject of a forum goes off track it becomes funny !!!!!

 

[Willy]

I had a book on (re)building engines for power/economy and there was a chepter on water injection. Didn't give more speed (RPM?) to the engine but, instead, raised the effective octane rating of the fuel (could use higher compression--> more HP). Heaven help ya if the water ran out while the engine was still running tho. ..Willy.

 

[SoulRaven]

Yes. No chlorine in these compounds. No caustic in the decomposition of baking soda. In water treatment sodium chloride brine is used with electricity to generate chlorine gas.
Not perfected. dang. I had a small submarine when a child. It would go up and down in the sink full of water. It was powered by baking soda. You would think that They harnessed that movement by now.
Early days of stock cars a water atomizer before the carburetor gave more speed to the engine. Chevy iron nail or ford v8.

Greetings!

They had little baking soda powered cars too. I think they might have come in the cereal boxes...

And the miniature hot air balloons with the little baskets that you could send one of your little toy soldiers up in. I can't quite remember what powered those... We lost all ours when we took them outside and they floated off into space. They used to have such neat things in those cereal boxes...

Let's not forget the rubber band powered paddle boats, cars, and planes too. I guess we were easily entertained back then... No batteries required...

How about the Tom Mix decoder rings... I always wondered if the teachers didn't have one to decode the messages they confiscated from the kids...

5&cent; gas, candy bars, & soda pop... Those WERE the good old days...

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[karl]

So I have been wanting to add solar to Thirsty ( step van) BUT don't want to increase my height ANY because I can just barely get into my garage now(9' h) and, it's fun to surprise the kids at the drivethru ( it takes little to amuse me at times)
Been tossing around the idee of hanging a couple 100 watt panels on the lift hatch on the rear (I replaced the POS roll-up with a tailgate and lift hatch) I realize that really limits the exposure when driving( just keep driving west in the morning, east in the afternoon??? I have no problem with making them easily removable (for me, not the bad guys) so that on sight they can be aimed at the sun, or just facing the truck properly/opening the hatch if that is an option (seldom, I'm sure).
Question that I have no idea of the answer is- will the panels charge at all while driving or parked with the hatch closed (vertical)and not directly facing the sun? What other issues have I overlooked?

 

[GotSmart]

I am guessing at this, but from the homework I have done~~~ If you have good panels, as long as they are facing the light source you will get benefit. The closer you are to directly facing the source, the more power you will have. You might get some power from indirect or reflected light, but nowhere near full benefit.

The only example I can think of is to think of it like a cat sitting in a sunny window. It gets much warmer when the sun shines directly on it.

 

[user 423]

Question that I have no idea of the answer is- will the panels charge at all while driving or parked with the hatch closed (vertical)and not directly facing the sun?

You would have charging by the alternator while driving so would you really need much solar input when traveling?

 

[SoulRaven]

I am guessing at this, but from the homework I have done~~~ If you have good panels, as long as they are facing the light source you will get benefit. The closer you are to directly facing the source, the more power you will have. You might get some power from indirect or reflected light, but nowhere near full benefit.

The only example I can think of is to think of it like a cat sitting in a sunny window. It gets much warmer when the sun shines directly on it.

Greetings!

I've seen people use mirrors to direct the sunlight to vertical panels...

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[akrvbob]

Unisolar flexible panels that you stick on would work well for your application.
Bob

 

[SternWake]

Question that I have no idea of the answer is- will the panels charge at all while driving or parked with the hatch closed (vertical)and not directly facing the sun? What other issues have I overlooked?

The panels can contribute to the current making it into the batteries.

Mine will contribute as long as the battery voltage is less than the Acceptance/absorption voltage I've set on my charge controller.

Sometimes my vehicles voltage regulator gets a little snarky with the other charging source and a few rare times I have had my solar partially charging the engine management system when the batteries were already topped off.

When my house battery is being recharged in the 90%+ range, my solar is usually more effective than the alternator. A few different contributing factors but generally in this stage, during daylight hours, I don' try and feed the house with alternator current.

When the house battery is very low, and the solar is contributing all it can at noon, and I have at least 800 engine rpm, my 200 watts of solar is only 1/5th of what my alternator can do.

But I'll take that 5th in that stage.

The more perpendicular the panels are to the sun, the better.

 

[karl]

Thanks for the thoughts-
Was thinking that hatch will be closed a lot, even when not driving- not going to wander off and leave my "tool room" open on the street, or walmarting or even boondocking....not so much concerned about when driving.

Have not looked lately for stick on panels- the only ones I found were 19+ feet- van roof is around 15'. Also assumed they were no longer made...will search again. That WOULD be more preferable.

I was hoping that my "Some is better than nothing" thinking was accurate, also would rather not store them inside, space is too valuable.

 

[Belinda2]

I'm sure the flexible solar panel companies like Nanosolar and Unisolar would know the answer to this.

 

[akrvbob]

Unisolar makes both 138 watt panels that are 18 feet long and 68 watt panels that are 9 feet long. I''ve installed several of the 68 wattrs. You can get them from Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Uni-Solar-PVL-68-PowerBond-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B002MWDI44/

At the top of the page you will see menu buttons, one of them is STORE, everything you need to install the 68 watt panel is there.
Bob

 

[karl]

Thanks. I had found this 3 panel sale http://www.ebay.com/itm/271182793634?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

A few concerns, gotta think on this some more;
200 watts Mono panels and an MPPT controller/cables costs about what just the flex panels alone do.
these are not transferable to another vehicle
I read someplace that heat transfer makes these less efficient(?)

on the upside;
simple install
low profile/discrete
theft proof

Too bad money is a consideration......that would make for easier choices, Eh?

 

[Belinda2]

"Not transferable to another vehicle" Why?
Why not peel and stick them to plexi-glass and put it next to the window for later removal?

 

[WheelEstate USA]

"Not transferable to another vehicle" Why?
Why not peel and stick them to plexi-glass and put it next to the window for later removal?

They stick so well one time that they are almost impossible to remove.
Being a tad over 9' long its kinda hard to just put them next to a window.

 

[Willy]

From what I've read, the Unisolar panels do very well when it gets hot, unlike mono/polycrysalline panels. Also, nothing sez you've gotta get an MPPT charge controller. A decent PWM can be picked up for $50. ..Willy.

 

[akrvbob]

I don't generally recommend the Unisolar because they are so expensive, but for a few people nothing else will work. They are outstanding panels though, very, very tough and durable and it's my understanding that amorphous panels are more efficient in shade than mono or poly, they are just wasteful of space.
Bob