solar accessory

I'm a nut for solar power and wanted to put something on my Prius to suggest that. I tried a little solar thingie on my dash, but couldn't figure out what it should do and it was distracting.

I hit upon an elegant solution. At my local mega hardware store which looks just like the mega hardware store in your neighborhoods, I found a solar "mood light" designed to float on your swimming pool. It is saucer shaped, translucent white, about eight inches in diameter and waterproof. There is a little blue white light inside charged up by the 2.5 inch square solar cell in the top center.

I found a 2in nylon u-bracket in our company shop, and some brass screws. I mounted the saucer on the rear window wiper arm, just above the pivot point where the arm is attached to the rear hatch.

During the day, the battery gets charged up, and when it gets dark, there is a subtle slightly bluish light off the back of the car. A circle of grey non-static packing foam placed in the bottom prevents the light from shining in my rear view mirror. I don't think the light is bright enough, or blue enough to be illegal or affect drivers behind me. It looks really cool, even when the car is parked. A friend of mine thought it was some sort of standard accessory, although he couldn't figure out what it would be for. I can imagine a set of solar parking lights that would provide some safety factor for your car without draining your car battery.

The light lasts up to 15 hours if it gets a good charge; most of the time, it goes off about 2 in the morning. It does make the car slightly easier to find in a parking lot, but mostly, I like it because it makes the Prius also an ad for solar power.

I posted some photos of HUMU in the Album. I used to have an anemometer on my car which converted wind speed into an electrical reading which I could convert into "airspeed". It was a fun gadget, and I missed not being able to mount it anywhere on HUMU. My solar disc has answered my need to have at least one meaningless gadget in/on my car.
Bob

 

It's posted in the Album

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Grahn\";p=\"81151)</div>

Rick:
Go to dashdesigns.com. They're in Arizona. They do good work and are fast. My cover cost me about 40 bucks. I have two; I got a black one at first, then got a blue one for my partner's Jetta TDI and liked the color so much that I got a blue one for HUMU too. There's a choice between velour or carpet; the velour is more "upholstery" looking, but I think the carpet is longer lasting and sturdier. Nice color selection too. They can make a cover for almost any car.
Bob

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LouieNet\";p=\"97935)</div>

[img=right:ac994fdf1a]http://www.energyfederation.org/common/images/productfamilies/small/s_678.jpg[/IMG]
Hi Bob,

I was wondering if you've looked into the solar-powered fan+vent gadget? It's supposed to blow hot air out of your car while it sits in the sun. After thinking about 20 minutes on how I might build one, it occurred to me that someone else may have already done it.

http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/d...p/cPath/390_678
http://www.digitalgiftstore.com/to-230.html

It seems like that one of these gizmos by itself may not do a whole heck of a lot. But there might be enough airflow if two are installed in one window, then two more are installed in another window with the fans wired to run backwards.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Louie[/b][/quote]

I had a pair of solar vents about this size installed in the fore and aft hatch covers of my sailboat. They didn't move enough air to keep the interior cool (it was wood and didn't get that hot inside anyway); their primary purpose was to reduce damp air concentrations by moving tiny amounts of air. They worked fine at doing that.

Unfortunately, these little car window vents would have to move much more air, and faster, than my solar boat vents if their purpose is to cool the interior, not reduce the humidity. My guess is that they would make little difference because the air in the car heats up much faster than these fans could ever hope to reduce.

Bob

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi\";p=\"98022)</div>

I don't know about what 4 would do, but at about 25 bucks a pop, you'd be out a 100 bucks or so to find out. I think it would be a pain to have to install four of them when you park; it would mean setting the accessories button on, then climbing into the back seat to do each of the rears, then to the passenger front and driver front. Frankly, I just leave my windows cracked when at work because our parking lot is safe for the most part and there's not much foot traffic.

At home, when I park on the street, I'll put the sun shades on the dash and leave a window cracked. I don't think the plastic in these solar vents offers a huge amount of protection against someone breaking into your car vs. just leaving the window cracked a bit.

I would be interested in hearing more from people who've tried one. By the way, if you go to Google and type in "solar vents for cars", you'll come across info from people who've used them; majority of them don't feel the solar vents worked all that well.