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Volt energy use in Highway Driving
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Written on: 01 November 2009 [19:11]
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sroseme
registered since: 28.10.2009
Posts: 4
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OK I live in a sunny part of Northern California-basically full sun on solar panel array. On average I use 1000 kwh per month. I'm not sure of solar system type-but probably 3X5 flat panels mounted on the ground (if that description is of any use). I drive 20-70 miles a day, mostly country(25-45 mph, some stopsigns & lights, some hills) and some freeway (maybe 200 miles per month). Almost no stop & go. My Prius gets 45 mpg. I'm afraid I don't understand what a 1 to 6 kw rated solar system means for my purposes. Can that be translated into kwh per mile? And thank you for your info so far. |
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Written on: 02 November 2009 [23:53]
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iamian
 
registered since: 23.02.2009
Posts: 107
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sroseme wrote: OK I live in a sunny part of Northern California-basically full sun on solar panel array. On average I use 1000 kwh per month. I'm not sure of solar system type-but probably 3X5 flat panels mounted on the ground (if that description is of any use). I drive 20-70 miles a day, mostly country(25-45 mph, some stopsigns & lights, some hills) and some freeway (maybe 200 miles per month). Almost no stop & go. My Prius gets 45 mpg. I'm afraid I don't understand what a 1 to 6 kw rated solar system means for my purposes. Can that be translated into kwh per mile? And thank you for your info so far. Sorry I don't know how to cover all of this more concisely. Overview: My general recommendations would be in this order: #1> Get a home energy audit done to help you reduce the energy you already use. #2> Improve your driving techniques... 45 MPG from a Prius isn't bad... but you can do better... These better driving techniques will benefit you in any vehicle you choose to drive... even a bicycle. #3> If you are still looking to do more than look to what you can buy... like a solar power system... or a PHEV ... or a REEV... or a Solar power system ... etc... they don't all have to come at once.... 3-A> sense you already got a home energy audit and worked to reduce your home energy usage the solar power system would be the first large purchase ... with which I would recommend getting the largest system that works for your budget and the rebates and incentives you can get... work with a professional installer in your area to get estimates and iron out your solar system. 3-B> If you still want to do more... then look to improving your transportation ... this could be any number of options... bicycling where you can... In Ca the Aptera is an option for you ... a Twike , etc... a Volt will be an option as well... so will just getting a PHEV conversion done to the Prius you already own. --------------- Detail: What I meant by 1 to 6 kW rated solar system: It could take as little as a 1 kw rated system to as much as a 6 kw rated system.... or 1 to 6 kw rated system. A kwh is a specific amount of energy. A kw is the rate of energy. To get kwh from kw you need to know the duration of time you got an average of that kw rate. 1 kw for 1 hour = 1 kwh 1 kw for 2 hours = 2 kwh 2 kw for 1 hour = 2 kwh. 2 kw for 2 hours = 4 kwh. etc... It is the opposite of most other things ... a Mile is a set distance but a MPH is a rate of mile over a period of time... so a kw (kilowatt) is a rate... a kwh (kilowatthour) is a specific amount. ---------- allot of solar power systems will often be built around a energy rate... a 1kw system produces electricity on average at a 1kw rate... which means under the solar industry standard of 1 sun conditions a 1 kw rated system will produce an average power of 1 kw.... if maintained for 1 hour you result with 1 kwh. ---------- An average solar hour is a method of estimating the amount of energy a particular solar power system will produce ... even though the conditions second to second will change the power output... a locations average solar hours per day allows you to estimate the amount of kwh a specific kw rated system will produce. In the U.S. this is was done across the country by the federal government many years ago. Although your specific site conditions can also make a significant impact... for instance shadows cast on a solar panel from a tree mean less solar energy is produced. Solar panels produce different amounts of power depending on the angle they are at with the sun.... the angle and position of the sun changes during a day and over the course of a year... this has also been well documented for a variety of variations in solar power system application / design. ------------ for example: San Francisco Ca gets a minimum average of 2.9 Solar hours per day during the month of December... and as much as an average of 9.9 daily can be collected during the month of July. Daggett Ca gets a minimum average of 4.4 Solar hours per day during the month of December... and as much as an average of 12 solar hours per day in June. A 1kw rated solar power system in Sanfrancisco Ca could produce as little as 2.9 kwh per average day in December to as much as 9.9 kwh per average day in July. A 2 kw rated solar power system in Sanfransico Ca could produce as little as 5.8 kwh per average day in December to as much as 19.8 kwh per average day in July. Those specifics can be narrowed down more as one gets more specifics of the angle the solar system will be mounted at... will it be fixed or tracking... what specific type of solar panels and control electronics , etc... specifics require specifics. ----------------- using 1,000 kwh per month is allot of energy ... I would recommend before you spend any money on a solar power system ... to get a home energy audit done... It is very very likely that you can greatly reduce that energy use number. It is normally the first step to become more efficient and reduce ones energy usage before trying to produce an offsetting amount of green power... Usually efficiency improvements offer more bang for the buck ... then after you have done the energy usage improvements if you still want to do more... than a second step might be to look into producing your own green power with your own solar power system. ----------------- The same type of driving techniques that can improve your Prius from 45 MPG to 55 MPG over the same route... will also benefit any EV you might drive... So I would also recommend you contact some hypermilers in your area to see about improving your technique which is very cheap to do. If you don't know of any hypermilers in your area... go visit: www.cleanmpg.com That is pretty much all they do there is hypermile ... when you have learned those skills and you want to move on beyond hypermiling ... than maybe a more efficient vehicle will be a second step. ----------------- The amount of kwh you will need per mile depends on 3 things: #1> The route ( this includes weather, temperature, hills, speed, etc. ) #2> Your driving technique. #3> The efficiency of the vehicle you are driving. Depending on the route and method a Volt might go as little as 1 mile for each 1 kwh or as much as 4 miles for each 1 kwh... Like already posted a more efficient vehicles like a Twike , or Aptera might go as much as 10 miles for each 1 kwh... but some of that always varies based on route, and driving technique, etc. The number of kwh your solar system will produce will vary greatly as I gave a basic outline above. 2000 MT Honda Insight
MIMA & FAS equipped ... PHEV in progress. Franken E-Bike 36V NiMH 600W Hub-Motor. |
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Written on: 24 November 2009 [06:06]
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georgepines05
registered since: 24.11.2009
Posts: 5
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pacman77 wrote: The Chevy Volt is hopefully going to be my choice of hybrid car I am determined to own a hybrid I am researching all models these threads were a bit complicated but it gives me a idea of peoples views of the Volt. I'm also considering this type of hybrid in the future. Chevy looks elegant yet cool. |
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Written on: 24 November 2009 [09:48]
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Yardonn
 
registered since: 22.08.2007
Posts: 157
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But you habve to look at the fact, that thes Hybrids also carry weight and costs of both "world". Expensive (and heavy...) Batteries, but also a combustion engine with it's high level of amintenance. One of the few economic advantages of an EV is that an electric motor requeires very little maintenance. This is annother example how we keep adding things to cars (AC, electric windows...), only looking at the positive effects, totalty neglecting the negativ side (weight and Cost). Afterwards we get such strange situations, the cars with electric windows are cheaper than without, because the electric windows are standart. But we should not forget, that cars would be cheaper to buy (and to maintain), if all these luxury-items would not be pressent. Alleweder 4
http://www.akkurad.com allmost full weather protection for one person at 0 - 1.5 kWh / 100 km CityEl as secondary E-Car |
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Written on: 26 November 2009 [00:04]
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iamian
registered since: 23.02.2009
Posts: 107
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I agree there is always trade offs ... and the pros and cons come with any compromise ... It is also always worth while to always keep in mind what are the pros of something that you wanted badly enough to put up with the cons. This includes all kinds of things ... and easy example is Air Conditioning ( AC ). Yes AC has cons ... it uses energy ... the AC system occupies space ... it adds weight ... It cost $ ... it cost time and effort to design , build , maintain , etc... These and others are all cons ... That is not to say there are not pros as well ... Where we balance the value of the pros and cons ... is something each of us does all the time. I don't think it is black and white ... I think it is a sliding scale ... everybody no matter what life style they have what vehicle they drive etc...etc... everybody has room for improvement and room to get worse... in many ways ... I encourage any improvement people are willing to make ... if they go from 10 MPG to 11 MPG ... I am glad they improved ... of course I hope they get even better ... and I hope they continue to improve ... one way or the other. Compared to some I have no doubt I lag far behind ... while I am far ahead of others ... I will continue to make efforts and be true to my values ... and those values will continue to drive me to improve ... it doesn't matter if I get down to a total of 300Wh of energy consumed for an entire year ... there is always room for further improvement ... It doesn't matter if I over produce 100kWh a day of surplus green power ... there is always room to still further improve. I think the perpetual ability to improve is a great thing ... and will continuously give me something to look forward to. Just my 2 bits. 2000 MT Honda Insight
MIMA & FAS equipped ... PHEV in progress. Franken E-Bike 36V NiMH 600W Hub-Motor. |
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