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donald – I’m not sure I understand your question. If you are generating electricity from your roof it goes into your consumer unit, then gets used around the house (or to charge the car). So long as you use less than this amount it is free – your electricity meter will not register that you are using any power. If you go over this amount then some will come from the grid, and it will cost you proportionally (e.g. if half comes from the grid then a charge will cost you half what it would without solar). Since Eco7 is so cheap, it can be cheaper to charge overnight than to use some of your solar plus some grid to charge during the day.
reboot – it’s hard to see how a small PV panel is worth having, it just isn’t cost effective. The pricier versions of the Nissan LEAF have a solar panel to charge the 12V battery, but a LEAF owner told me last week he thought it was mostly just a gimmick.
Happy New year to Trevor and all.
Thanks for getting back Trevor on the 12 volt charging question.Of course I agree with the Leaf “Gimmick” question,although it is surprising how many members of the green public have asked why the car has no Solar panel.The answer of as you know is Watts=Amps x Volts. Maybe it has some PR value.
Perhaps it may be worth looking at the possibility, on a hot Summer day,of say connecting a 50 Watt 12v panel,not carried with the car, too big, but only costing say £100. A simple plug in to the cigar socket may do,although this is not always live.In theory this would supply up to 4amps to the lead acid 12 volt battery which I guess runs the radio,lights wipers etc.This battery is I think charged from the 400v Li-on pack of 100 4v cells in series,(A discussion for another day)So 4 amps in this thought experiment costing £100.
On the other hand to charge the 400 volt 24 KWhr? pack at 4 amps with Solar panels in a car port or house roof, with inverters, in phase mains stuff etc, very expensive and perhaps a bigger “Gimmick” Don’t get me wrong,I have worked with PV for over 40 years,some folk think it heats the water,and I love the Zoe,but perhaps we should not confuse putting in Solar to run the house, with charging the car.
Having said that, I believe the day is not far off when the car will help to supply the house with power,as in China and the US, and the Leaf TV ad.
To summerise. 12 volt 4 amp solar panel 48 watt, into cigar socket at home,£100.Lead acid battery only.
400 volt 4amp 1600watt, major grid setup, roof panels say 32 x 50watt panels,guess £3k or £4k?
Just a thought.
On another related topic,Pauledg mentioned the 10amp brick charger. I ordered this at £400 from Renault dealer, It was never supplied and I believe withdrawn, by Renault ,no raeson given, although the Van has one.
This had a 13amp plug and would have been very useful in emergencies.Happy New Year, Reboot.
The 10A cable is an optional extra on Kangoo and Fluence and very useful it is too when visiting friends, for a bit of a top-up before returning home. It comes with dire warnings that it’s for occasional use only. Pardon my science but if something is okay for some use how come it’s not okay for more use? Anyway, as I see it, it only handles just over 2kw which is the same as a 2 bar electric fire and no-one would hesitate to plug that in.
With the Zoe Renault in their infinite wisdom decided NOT to offer the lead as an option, something which winds many Zoe owners up. All very well having fast charging (I’m jealous) but it’s got to be where you want it – and working!
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This reply was modified 12 years, 10 months ago by
pauledg.
My dealer actually ordered the 10A charger for the Zoe twice and waited for a delivery from Paris,sending the first charger back as you rightly say it was for a Kangoo and came with the wrong plug for the Zoe.
This was in spite of the fact that I told him that the then head of Renault Electric had told me a year earlier that this charger would never be released for a Zoe.
I believe they are concerned’ that although it may only draw 10A from the 13A socket in your kitchen,someone may also plug the 2kw kettle in and perhaps blow the trip,(Depends on the house wiring and ring main etc)
People were also warned about not using extension cables and coiling the cable.Relatively speaking 10A is a lot although my Zoe draws 100A from the battery when going up a small hill.
Still there is a lot to be said for simple home charging over complicated and often faulty street chargers,maybe that’s a factor in Siemens recent decision?reboot, don’t forget Renault has now launched a domestic socket cable for ZOE.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 10 months ago by
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