Make of this what you will, but when I was working at Boston Volkswagen last summer and these solar panels started coming in (they work great, by the way -- I gave out a few to friends and family) there are very clear instructions from VW in every new car to not leave the solar panels plugged into the cigarette lighter once the vehicle is running, at risk of electrical hazard and potential fire. I guess the theory is that if the car is on, or if your cigarette lighter in an older car is wired to provide power even when the ignition is off, that rather than charging the battery, the current flow reverses and heads into the solar panel. If this situation persists, you can melt some light/temporary-duty wires (in the harness -- not in the pv panel) and are risking a short that can have exactly the opposite effect, and drain the battery. And/or start a fire. Again, I don't know that this *is* in fact, an issue, or if the manufacturer was just trying to protect themselves against accidents and idiocy, etc, but in case you're thinking about wiring a solar panel in permanently, and sticking it somewhere less obtrusive than the windshield (which I immediately thought about) there were very clear instructions about not leaving these things plugged in after the vehicle is running. If there's an electrical engineer in the house, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Best - Isaac in Cambridge
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ben McCafferty" <ben@VOLKSCAFE.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 3:32 PM Subject: Solar panels are GONE!!!
Hi everyone, Wow, if you ever feel unpopular, just give something away! I created a "solar" rule on my email client and had 50+ requests within a couple of hours. Those of you I have responded to will be getting panels. Everyone else, please bear with me while I count up how many panels are spoken for, and I'll notify you if I have enough for you. Thanks and best regards, bmc :) Ben McCafferty ben@volkscafe.com Volks Cafe 1823 Soquel Avenue Santa Cruz, CA 95062 831-426-1244 http://www.volkscafe.com |
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