Well it appears my edmounds.com consumer review is not going through, I assume it is because I linked my blog off it. I got a few postings from insightcentral.net I need to reply to but, I am going through the forgot password process...
In other news... I am talking to the dealership in the morning. Updates will follow, I will be asking about warranty installs, and see what they offer to help me increase my miles per gallon even more. The last thing I want to do is break my warranty contract, so I need to do everything very legit for at least five years. After that, the solar roof rack is getting installed and connected directly to the IMA system, which will be upgraded to at least a dual battery system. I guess-timate at least 115 miles per gallon off this option. The install will coast about $3,000 - $5,000 - well worth it in my opinion.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Quigz Links Updated
I updated the links page, it is much cleaner now! Also, I got my solar store online - NOW IN BUSINESS!
I also felt it was required to put my personal review on Edmunds. My review is currently under review and if it gets approved you can check that out HERE.
I also felt it was required to put my personal review on Edmunds. My review is currently under review and if it gets approved you can check that out HERE.
New Product
Bought a new item today. So the main reason I started the solar idea is because whenever I plug something in to the 12v adapter, like a cell phone charger my gas mileage goes way down. Since my car runs on half electric, this makes sense. So I bought this item that charges an internal battery off solar (or USB power), to then power.... anything you need while driving, your GPS, cell phone, etc. The best part is that comes with suction cups, no custom install work - and you can leave this in your car to charge, then take it with you if you know your phone is going to die. FREE PORTABLE ENERGY FOR YOUR CELL PHONE!
Pending the new arrival of possibly the best product of the YEAR!
Pending the new arrival of possibly the best product of the YEAR!
CRAP!
I was on way to work this morning and the 5watt solar panel fell, finally. I had anticipated this would happen, I was just waiting for it. So the panel is 4.5 lbs as per shipping weight. I bought suctions cups that can with stand 5lbs each, and I used four. (manufacturer claims it hold 5lbs) So thats 20lbs of suction strength holding a 5lb panel. So what went wrong? Overtime the suction cups started to weaken, the heads holding the metal wire started to arch, allowing the wire to let loose and all at once while going over a minor bump the whole panel just dropped. GOOD NEWS... The panel dropped approximately 2.5 feet from the window, AND DID NOT BREAK! This can be prevented by checking the suction cups every few days and make sure they are secure. Again, big props to SUNFORCE for making a quality product that does not break easy.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wind Generators @ Atlantic City, New Jersey
I was leaving Atlantic City, NJ this afternoon and saw these massive wind generators. I don't know what they are powering but they are probably powering some of the casinos. Sorry for the bad picture, it was overcast skies and as close as I could legally get.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
67mpg
Made it down to Wildwood, I managed to achieve 67mpg during to 2 hour trip. Before the addition of the solar panel I was getting 62mpg.very excited about this, even proves my theory a little bit more in my opinion.
ROAD TRIP
Heading to Chester Casino, Harrah's, then over to Atlantic City (some dumb random casino) and then to Wildwood for the upcoming weekend. You can easily spot the ride! Giant solar panel in the back window with this web address in the back window.
A long drive should be just with the new addition needs. I will post all miles per gallon, and if anyone one from the road logs on, I don't apologize for driving slow! How many miles per gallon do you get? Maybe... 20? If your tailgating me, I just think your reading my ad... So thanks for stopping by!
A long drive should be just with the new addition needs. I will post all miles per gallon, and if anyone one from the road logs on, I don't apologize for driving slow! How many miles per gallon do you get? Maybe... 20? If your tailgating me, I just think your reading my ad... So thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Results
I bought the 5watt solar panel made by SunForce. After doing some research I knew I was going to buy this product, but wanted to ask the manufacturer (SunForce) some technical questions. I sent them two emails requesting technical assistance and neither of them got answered. Although they have horrible email skills, the 5watt trickle charger is a pretty decent product for the money.
We all know solar panels consume energy from the sun. Well, this 5watt trickle charger claims to work in cloudy skies - so of course this was my first test. What SunForce claims, is true, I don't know how exactly this works in grey overcast skies but it works, and it works well!
I did read allot of posts on the internet and everyone swears the 12v cigarette adapter does not work if you shut the car off. Here is what I found. If you plug in something like your GPS which has a green LED to indicate power, you will find that while the cars ignition in in the ON position the green LED will light up, and as soon as you take the key out that LED goes dark. So yes, the 12v adapter looses power when the key is out of the ignition. HOWEVER, if your plugging a solar panel in the 12v adapter, you WILL power your dashboard. I can leave my keys in my pocket, plug in the 12v solar panel and listen to the radio, its powerful enough to spin the CD, run the venting fans, and light up the dashboard.
Did you ever have a passenger that needed to run in a store for anything and you just wanted to wait in the car? Well you don't want to leave your car running because now your wasting gas, and we all know gas is cash. So, you turn the engine off. Now your killing your battery trying to listen to the radio. Problem solved.
Although the main purpose for this solar panel is to increase miles per gallon. Having a 5watt trickle charger connected directly to a 12volt battery does not increase you MPG. At least I haven't noticed a huge increase. But, when you leave your car sitting for several hours the battery slowly looses its stored power. Now when you turn your car on, the IMA battery first has to charge up, once it does it then replenishes the power to the 12volt battery. When this occurs it takes power away from the IMA battery, and thats what we want to keep charged since that is were the giant increase in MPG is. So the less the IMA battery has to charge the 12v, the more energy I am saving which can be used instead to propel the car forward.
With my driving habits, and a terrain with allot of hills, I typically get 360-365 miles per 8 1/2 to 9 gallons of gas, using the cheap 87 octain gas. Same driving habits, same hilly terrain, same gas station on those 8 1/2 to 9 gallons of gas I am now getting 375-380 miles. On both tanks of gas the weather was in the same average temperature of 45*-50*. I am aware that hotter weather also increases MPG so I made sure to check that, I didn't want anything to throw off any results. Now is this increase in miles per tank of gas a direct result due to the addition of 5watts? I have no proof other than my observations. Could a really good defense attorney rip me apart in a court of law telling me I am wrong? YEP!
If you are planning on purchasing a solar panel to do something like this. Here are some things you need to look for. Check the wire running to the solar panel, make sure it is not hot, if this even feels warm to the touch then disconnect it immediately before you cause permanent damage. Also, the 12volt adapter has a fuse in it, be sure to check that often, if this fuse blows, there is a problem somewhere do not just replace the fuse find out why it blew. Finally, check your cars fusebox and make sure that 12volt fuse did not blow.
My Conclusion
I "believe" the addition of solar panels connected to the 12v battery is saving me gas money. I got this shipped to me for about $50 bucks, and will make my money back after 6 tanks of gas maybe sooner if prices continue to rise. I am also looking forward to the results once the temperatures rise and everyone drives around with the air conditioner on. I feel this solar panel is strong enough to power the cars AC.
We all know solar panels consume energy from the sun. Well, this 5watt trickle charger claims to work in cloudy skies - so of course this was my first test. What SunForce claims, is true, I don't know how exactly this works in grey overcast skies but it works, and it works well!
I did read allot of posts on the internet and everyone swears the 12v cigarette adapter does not work if you shut the car off. Here is what I found. If you plug in something like your GPS which has a green LED to indicate power, you will find that while the cars ignition in in the ON position the green LED will light up, and as soon as you take the key out that LED goes dark. So yes, the 12v adapter looses power when the key is out of the ignition. HOWEVER, if your plugging a solar panel in the 12v adapter, you WILL power your dashboard. I can leave my keys in my pocket, plug in the 12v solar panel and listen to the radio, its powerful enough to spin the CD, run the venting fans, and light up the dashboard.
Did you ever have a passenger that needed to run in a store for anything and you just wanted to wait in the car? Well you don't want to leave your car running because now your wasting gas, and we all know gas is cash. So, you turn the engine off. Now your killing your battery trying to listen to the radio. Problem solved.
Although the main purpose for this solar panel is to increase miles per gallon. Having a 5watt trickle charger connected directly to a 12volt battery does not increase you MPG. At least I haven't noticed a huge increase. But, when you leave your car sitting for several hours the battery slowly looses its stored power. Now when you turn your car on, the IMA battery first has to charge up, once it does it then replenishes the power to the 12volt battery. When this occurs it takes power away from the IMA battery, and thats what we want to keep charged since that is were the giant increase in MPG is. So the less the IMA battery has to charge the 12v, the more energy I am saving which can be used instead to propel the car forward.
With my driving habits, and a terrain with allot of hills, I typically get 360-365 miles per 8 1/2 to 9 gallons of gas, using the cheap 87 octain gas. Same driving habits, same hilly terrain, same gas station on those 8 1/2 to 9 gallons of gas I am now getting 375-380 miles. On both tanks of gas the weather was in the same average temperature of 45*-50*. I am aware that hotter weather also increases MPG so I made sure to check that, I didn't want anything to throw off any results. Now is this increase in miles per tank of gas a direct result due to the addition of 5watts? I have no proof other than my observations. Could a really good defense attorney rip me apart in a court of law telling me I am wrong? YEP!
If you are planning on purchasing a solar panel to do something like this. Here are some things you need to look for. Check the wire running to the solar panel, make sure it is not hot, if this even feels warm to the touch then disconnect it immediately before you cause permanent damage. Also, the 12volt adapter has a fuse in it, be sure to check that often, if this fuse blows, there is a problem somewhere do not just replace the fuse find out why it blew. Finally, check your cars fusebox and make sure that 12volt fuse did not blow.
My Conclusion
I "believe" the addition of solar panels connected to the 12v battery is saving me gas money. I got this shipped to me for about $50 bucks, and will make my money back after 6 tanks of gas maybe sooner if prices continue to rise. I am also looking forward to the results once the temperatures rise and everyone drives around with the air conditioner on. I feel this solar panel is strong enough to power the cars AC.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Results Will Be Posted
I have some preliminary results from the first addition of any kind of Solar Panel. As soon as I have some free time I will be posting the install process and how I feel about the addition, as well as some experience with customer service with a known company.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Initial Post
Hello Bloggers!
I am starting this blog to chat about the new car I recently purchased and the miles per gallon I am getting. I bought the 2010 Honda Insight (Second Generation). I bought this car purely to save money on gas. The car I traded in was a 5.7 V8 2004 Pontiac GTO, so you can imagine the gas money I am saving now.
You are probably asking yourself, "What does this have to do with solar panels Quigz"? The answer is simple, for those who are not very knowledgeable on the Insight I will explain real quick how the car works. The Insight actually has two batteries, and no alternator. One massive battery pack resides in the trunk, this massive battery gets charged while the car is braking or not accelerating, ex. downhill. There is a second 12 volt battery under the hood, which sole purpose is to power the accessories in the cabin. So, to break this down real quick... The car charges the massive battery pack in the trunk, the power then runs through a DC to DC converter and charges the 12 volt battery under the hood. And thats why I Honda did not include an alternator with this car.
And this is were solar power comes into play. The more renewable energy I can provide to these batteries, the more energy I have to propel the car. Therefore increasing miles per gallon. With the rising gas prices I am sure there are people who are interested in this topic and I am designing this blog to help those individuals. In future I will be looking at adding solar to my house, and if this blog is successful I would be glad to share my process.
I will be adding pictures of my car and installations, the products I choose and post why I choose that product. I encourage anyone with knowledge on DC current to assist me on this journey.
My Personal Disclaimer
I have no knowledge of electricity! This site is a blog and is purely my personal thoughts and ideas. If you attempt anything mentioned on this blog and blow up your car, you, the reader, do not hold the author "Quigz" or GOOGLE responsible in anyway shape or form.
I am starting this blog to chat about the new car I recently purchased and the miles per gallon I am getting. I bought the 2010 Honda Insight (Second Generation). I bought this car purely to save money on gas. The car I traded in was a 5.7 V8 2004 Pontiac GTO, so you can imagine the gas money I am saving now.
You are probably asking yourself, "What does this have to do with solar panels Quigz"? The answer is simple, for those who are not very knowledgeable on the Insight I will explain real quick how the car works. The Insight actually has two batteries, and no alternator. One massive battery pack resides in the trunk, this massive battery gets charged while the car is braking or not accelerating, ex. downhill. There is a second 12 volt battery under the hood, which sole purpose is to power the accessories in the cabin. So, to break this down real quick... The car charges the massive battery pack in the trunk, the power then runs through a DC to DC converter and charges the 12 volt battery under the hood. And thats why I Honda did not include an alternator with this car.
And this is were solar power comes into play. The more renewable energy I can provide to these batteries, the more energy I have to propel the car. Therefore increasing miles per gallon. With the rising gas prices I am sure there are people who are interested in this topic and I am designing this blog to help those individuals. In future I will be looking at adding solar to my house, and if this blog is successful I would be glad to share my process.
I will be adding pictures of my car and installations, the products I choose and post why I choose that product. I encourage anyone with knowledge on DC current to assist me on this journey.
My Personal Disclaimer
I have no knowledge of electricity! This site is a blog and is purely my personal thoughts and ideas. If you attempt anything mentioned on this blog and blow up your car, you, the reader, do not hold the author "Quigz" or GOOGLE responsible in anyway shape or form.
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