Recent content by theleafer

Thank you, All of the limitations came together and were against me on this one. I looked at the flexible panels. They were ideal because the drag would be very low, if even enough to take into account. The issue was that they were a lot more expensive and the output was so much less than a...

Phil, I am aware that the drag induced by the panel will possibly be more that what my PV charging set up will ever give back to me. This is intended to be an experiment for my senior design project and a proof of concept. After my independent study project period is over I will be mounting this...

Wow, I was aware of the reduction in power but never thought that it could be of harm to the panel or even of potential danger to people and equipment.

I will look into this. Thank you Wayne!

My Idea came from a similar situation. I enjoy skiing and in the winter there was no way the LEAF would make it to the mountain and back, and if it was possible, it wouldn't be pleasant due to the lack of heating. 250watts was the biggest I could go, there were panels form yosisun that would...

Can anybody think of a good way of mounting the panel to the top side of the bars without to much drilling? My bars are 1 inch diameter and there is enough space for the panel to fit between the towers. Currently, it is mounted up as shown below. This was what an employee at ACE Hardware came up...

My reasoning for sticking with Mech E is that to me, it can be more universally applied and may have more careers to choose from. As far as EE I think that solar is cool. I am sure I will get a better idea of which path I want to take after my first two years in college and some general...

Thank you for the info on the panels. As for the mounting of mine. Originally it was on top but, I did not feel comfortable with it being that high off of the roof. This way the panel pushes against the bars instead of pulling up on them when hit by wind and it is actually partially on the roof...

Got my setup working with Ingineer's wonderful plug-resistor set up. Now I waiting on my EVSE upgrade so I can charge at lower amperage.

I did originally look at buying the cells and making my own panel. It would have been cheaper, slimmer, lighter and have less frontal area. What got me away from this idea was creating the enclosure for the cells and how to safely mount them to the roof. I also got a really good deal on my...

I have created a blog page which will help make it easier to follow my progress. I will still make sure to keep everyone on MyNissanLEAF.com up to date as much as possible though. Thank you for your input everyone. http://projectphotosynthesis.weebly.com/blog/foam

The guys at http://evseupgrade.com/ have been a huge help. I will be sending in my EVSE to have them do their magic to it. With their software on the EVSE I will be able to drop the charge down to 6amps and that should help solve at least one of my roadblocks. Check them out at...

My school donated a second battery which happens to be the exact same specs and make (Interstate Battery). With that other battery I was able to use all four inputs on my inverter which will reduce heat in the back. The charge lasted about 5 mins and I disconnected it with not auto cutoffs

What kind of inverter and how big of a were you using?

My understanding is that the evse will Input and output 120v @ 12amps. This should put it around 1440kWh max draw. The battery is to act as a capacitor say to say inorder to provide a buffer between the panel and charger. I have been able to get a continuous charge for about a minuete on a...