3 ms·
Park it in the sun, leave the air con on.
by JulianMorrison 9y ago
Park it in the sun, leave the air con on.
- spydum 9y agoim pretty sure the maths doesnt work out in favor of this. it'd be more efficient to simply insulate the roof better, than to try to capture solar power.. but maybe I'm wrong.
- timthelion 9y agoIt's not better to improve the roof's insulation because 90% of the heat comes in through the windows.
- Gravityloss 9y agoElectric roll-up blinds...
- skybrian 9y agoWell, it might be enough power to run the fan.
- blacksmith_tb 9y agoExactly - my car has the sensors to do this already, it knows the inside and outside temp, I would like it to crack the windows when it's hotter inside, and run the blower on low. It could even use the rain sensor on the windshield to close them if necessary.
- mikestew 9y agoI've done the math: even if I covered the top of our VW Westfalia camper van with solar panels (400-500W max), the panels couldn't begin to generate enough power to run even the most efficient A/C unit. Better to just park in the shade with the windows cracked.
- kevin_b_er 9y agoThe A/C units are rated in tens of thousands of BTU per hour for a car. 10k BTU/hr is 2.9 kilowatts. Fans might work, but not the A/C.
- mikestew 9y agoThough there's telemetry for it, I've never paid attention to how much our Nissan Leaf's A/C pulls. What I do know is that it doesn't kill the range nearly as much as the heater, so let's say it pulls half what the heater does. Heater pulls, give or take, 3000W (that telemetry, I've paid attention to). Figure out how to squeeze 15 100W panels on the roof and you're golden.