use of solar panel at spoiler on roof?

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This thread got me thinking about the Fog lights on the Leaf. I know that the headlights are LED so they probably use very little power. But what about the fog lights? Are they LED also?
 
Frank said:
This thread got me thinking about the Fog lights on the Leaf. I know that the headlights are LED so they probably use very little power. But what about the fog lights? Are they LED also?

My fuzzy memory is that Nissan said all lights on the car were LED.
 
I would suspect the Fogs to be LED as well, for the same reason as the headlamps. Incandescent fog lamps can run 55 watts apiece.

I'll be interested in learning more details about the LED headlamps. I've got what is considered a powerful LED headlight for my bicycle, at about 700 lumens, utilizing 6 high-power LEDs. Now that's only about half the lumens a good car headlamp puts out so it will be interesting to see what kind of emitters they're using and how many.
 
bradford said:
how useful is the solar panel's charging?
It serves one purpose only: It's for show. Since the car is electric, some wise guy is going to ask why don't you run it off solar panels. With the Leaf you can point to the solar panel. Someone uneducated enough to suggest running the car that way will easily be convinced that indeed it does. Then you can tell them you don't actually have to plug the car in as long as it gets some sunlight during the day. Keep a straight face and you might convince them.

MikeBoxwell said:
Back in the early 1990s, Audi put a similarly sized solar panel onto the roof of the Audi A8. They used it to power some tiny fans to extract hot air from the car in the summer. The idea was that when you got back into the car on a really hot day, it wouldn't feel like a cook-house. Apparently it worked pretty well for that.
There's an option on certain trim lines of the 2010 Prius that does this. But I've not heard that the leaf will.
 
It seems to me that the cabin heating must be off the main battery, not the 12V. Nissan is advertising the fact that one can remotely activate it to preheat the cabin in the morning while it is still plugged in, thus using house power instead of draining the battery at the beginning of your commute. This only makes sense if the main battery heats the cabin.

As for the spoiler solar panels, I actually ordered the SV instead of the SL because I hate spoilers and the way it was advertised was the SL had a solar spoiler. I didn't realize that the SV also has a spoiler, just no solar panel on it. Their website was unclear. I tend to think that panel is a gimmick with no real value. It's typical of features with psychological appeal that are designed to draw people into buying the premium package, where profit margins are high.
 
The only thing a panel that size is good for is keeping a 12v battery toped off over long periods of time, it is too small or even practical to circulate air.
 
EVDRIVER said:
The only thing a panel that size is good for is keeping a 12v battery toped off over long periods of time, it is too small for even a practical to circulate air.
It's not even good for that! Who keeps a car in long-term storage out of doors?
 
1. Medium term (1-2 weeks) "storage" (parking) at an airport lot is probable. If outside parking of the LEAF is the only option, leaving it for the duration of a "family vacation" might be another longer-term "storage" situation.

2. When the heater element is ON, it is likely that a 12v fan will also be on.
 
daniel said:
It's not even good for that! Who keeps a car in long-term storage out of doors?


Maybe not in the US, but in the Europe everybody leaves their car parked outside their homes. A garage is just somewhere to dump worthless 'stuff' whilst the real investment - the $20,000 - $30,000 car, is left outside.

No. I don't understand it either...
 
garygid said:
1. Medium term (1-2 weeks) "storage" (parking) at an airport lot is probable. If outside parking of the LEAF is the only option, leaving it for the duration of a "family vacation" might be another longer-term "storage" situation.
You don't need a battery charger during a two-week vacation. The Prius has a tiny, inadequate 12-volt battery, and I've left it for as much as six weeks without starting it, with no ill effects.

As for overnight parking on the street, obviously the solar panel will do no good there.

For anything under a month of storage, a charger is unnecessary, and it's probably unneeded for anything under two or three months. And so few people are going to leave a new car outside for that length of time, that the solar panels really do nothing at all. They do, however, serve to underline that the car is electric. There is a "cool" factor, even though it's only a perception, not a real functional feature.

I think it's nice they have it. But if it were an option I would not pay for it.
 
daniel said:
For anything under a month of storage, a charger is unnecessary, and it's probably unneeded for anything under two or three months.
What happens to the LEAF traction battery in 1-2-3 months ? I've heard of Tesla accidents and the car being at salvage yards sitting unattended and ruining the (very expensive) battery. How much discharge is expected for the LEAF if not plugged in ? Is the solar panel (daytime, unobstructed) in any way able to maintain the health of the traction battery ? Is there a long-term "store it" mode in the LEAF (trickle charging while plugged in) ?
(This should probably also go in the "Battery" thread ...)
 
The solar panel will do nothing at all for the traction battery, but as has been said before, it shouldn't be a problem to store it unplugged for months at a time. I expect the traction battery self-discharge will be fairly low.

There is already at least one thread for this: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=163
 
Hello, I'm from Lisbon in Portugal and we are going to be the first countrie in Europe to get the first Leafs here and I count to be one of the first to put my hands on one. This is the european countrie with more sunlight hours and that's why I've some questions to make on this amazing forum.

I'm not an expert, and I would appreciate that someone could explain me why doesn't worth to fully cover, at least the roof of the Leaf with high performance flexible photovoltaic panel in order to get as much power as possible while beeing outdoor, instead of that little tiny low performance Nissan wants to provide?

I know that some people will say it's going to be too expensive but Nissan could always make it an option right?

As an example, something like the one we can see in the link below:

http://cgi.ebay.es/Flexible-high-efficient-Solar-Panel-Car-Bike-30Watt-/230488043687?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35aa2870a7#ht_2168wt_1148

I'm sure it could provide even some power to the main battery too and not only fullfill the auxiliary 12v one.

Thank you and once again congratulations for the best forum about the Leaf I ever see. Sorry about my poor english but I'm not a native speaker

All the best with all your Leafs ;)
 
mitch672 said:
I would fully expect the Leafs resistive heater, and Air Conditining compresser will run off the HV as well. Pretty much everything else I would expect to run off the 12V system.

I don't quite understand, why would Nissan put a resitive heater in an EV ? If the car already has AC, why not put in a few extra parts and make it a full reversible (inverter-driven) heat pump instead ? The power requirement for heating in winter (which is half the year around here) would drop to less than a third compared to a resistive heater.

I sincerely hope the Tesla Model S will emply a heat pump for cabin heating...
 
jkirkebo said:
I don't quite understand, why would Nissan put a resitive heater in an EV ? If the car already has AC, why not put in a few extra parts and make it a full reversible (inverter-driven) heat pump instead ? The power requirement for heating in winter (which is half the year around here) would drop to less than a third compared to a resistive heater.

I sincerely hope the Tesla Model S will emply a heat pump for cabin heating...

There are other threads about this, no need to cover it again :)
 
ruim...
Welcome. You English is fine, no problems.
We are pleased that you have made the effort to join us.

Most likely Nissan is putting all of its efforts into getting the EV to work well, and (for this first model) they have very little (no) priority for fancy, not-necessary options.
 
ruimegas said:
Hello, I'm from Lisbon in Portugal and we are going to be the first countrie in Europe to get the first Leafs here and I count to be one of the first to put my hands on one. This is the european countrie with more sunlight hours and that's why I've some questions to make on this amazing forum.

I'm not an expert, and I would appreciate that someone could explain me why doesn't worth to fully cover, at least the roof of the Leaf with high performance flexible photovoltaic panel in order to get as much power as possible while beeing outdoor, instead of that little tiny low performance Nissan wants to provide?

I know that some people will say it's going to be too expensive but Nissan could always make it an option right?

As an example, something like the one we can see in the link below:

http://cgi.ebay.es/Flexible-high-efficient-Solar-Panel-Car-Bike-30Watt-/230488043687?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35aa2870a7#ht_2168wt_1148

I'm sure it could provide even some power to the main battery too and not only fullfill the auxiliary 12v one.

Thank you and once again congratulations for the best forum about the Leaf I ever see. Sorry about my poor english but I'm not a native speaker

All the best with all your Leafs ;)


It makes no sense from a cost, weight, output benefit. That is the short answer. Solar panels are best placed on the home not the vehicle.
 
However, if future technology allowed the PV surface to fit the aerodynamics of the car, was low cost, light weight, and highly efficient, having PV on the car could make very good sense.

Just do not park in the shade.
 
garygid said:
However, if future technology allowed the PV surface to fit the aerodynamics of the car, was low cost, light weight, and highly efficient, having PV on the car could make very good sense.

Just do not park in the shade.


However, if the Leaf did not have a heavy steel sub frame and was made of composites it would have far better range and performance. And if the motor used super conductors it would be a fraction of the size and weight but none of this is true now. So, solar panels don't make sense except in the future, where all the other problems may be solved and the BP well is plugged and the gulf is clean. An EVSE may even cost $25. However, that is the possible future so the answer to the solar panel question that gets asked a thousand times remains a simple no. Too bad.
 
garygid said:
Just do not park in the shade.

I'm getting the feeling I'd get generate more power parking underground than on the surface, in Seattle. Surely I can generate more power with all that artificial light ? We are all going to be fighting for the spot closest to the lights :lol:
 
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