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Electric Vehicles

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bruto said:
A little side note on roofs. I am at the margin of what is called "the colored slate capital of the world." Every older house around here has a slate roof. So does my barn.

I rummaged a bit and found a couple of pictures, which might help to clarify.

First is at the top of my back hill, looking down at house and barn, pointed a bit west of north;

View attachment 44431

This is from the backyard of the house, looking up to the SSE or so, the position of the first picture off the screen to the right and up.

View attachment 44432

The last is standing in what might be one of the better places for a panel, except that its a couple of hundred feet from the meter with stone ledge that means it would probably have to go through conduit rather than burial. We are looking more or less northwest. Just north of the pond, the land jogs far to the right, and the tree line seen to the right is at the base of the ledge. Between the ledge and the clear field seen to the north of the pond is marshy . The field could possibly support a solar array, but tying into the grid at the distance might be expensive.

View attachment 44433
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That all looks beautiful. I can see why you're concerned with spoiling a view. That's a personal subjective question. But it looks like you have a lot of choices for a solar array as big as you want. I just look for the best spots for as much direct sun from sunrise to sunset and winter to summer.

But it sounds like you think digging a trench for the wiring would be too expensive? Is it too hard to dig through with an excavator? I think for you the biggest issues are the structural and visual and how much you want to spend.

I helped a buddy install 30Kwh installation on his barn last year. One side of his barn was close to perfect. Slightly SE looking so it wasn't great for early evening sun. He meant for the install to be smaller but I got a killer deal on a lot of panels for him. (It's cheaper if you can buy them in pallets or better than that in full containers) He effectively doesn't pay for electricity.

Here are items that you're likely to see on a quote.

Panels
Inverters (Panel inverters or String inverters) I'd likely go with string inverters in your location because they are much cheaper and the panels are ground mounted with easy access. (Also, you have expenses that roof mounted installs don't)

That then leads to the question of whether you would want to go with panel optimizers. (Panel Optimizers increase the DC voltage to an optimum level as well as serializing the panels so you can get panel level data. It tells you up to date info on each individual panel. How much power it's producing. It also helps you immediately pinpoint where a problem is.) I probably wouldn't do this either for your install because while all that data is helpful and optimizing biggest benefit is dealing with partial shade.

The biggest disadvantage to string inverters is the Christmas tree light scenario. One dead panel on a string or shaded panel knocks or severely impairs the whole string. But if my array doesn't have the partial shade on any individual panel then the benefit of buying a $75 to $150 per panel optimizer is questionable.

Electrical cable
Cables and connectors
Combiner boxes
Breaker Switches
Subpanel

Best of luck.
 
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Thanks for the input. I'm still looking into it. There are a few solar outfits in the area which might be able to give me some estimates. One got in touch, but never returned - not a very good recommendation.

As for excavating, not surprisingly (see avatar and pond that that machine dug)) that is possible in parts of the land, but in other parts it's entirely not, including the ledge on which the barn and shop sit. So wiring can go underground for a way, then not.
 
bruto said:
Thanks for the input. I'm still looking into it. There are a few solar outfits in the area which might be able to give me some estimates. One got in touch, but never returned - not a very good recommendation.

As for excavating, not surprisingly (see avatar and pond that that machine dug)) that is possible in parts of the land, but in other parts it's entirely not, including the ledge on which the barn and shop sit. So wiring can go underground for a way, then not.
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Sounds challenging. If you have any questions about the solar part of this, feel free to PM me. Good luck.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
<veering off-topic> Touchscreen controls really don't belong in cars.
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I think they can work well with a properly designed user interface.

That said, it sure is handy having the most-used functions easily at hand on or adjacent to the steering wheel.

And THAT said, our 2018 Honda Clarity has a pretty poorly designed touchscreen. Changing audio input or radio station requires several button pushes through various menus. Many owners complain of the lack of a volume knob, made worse by the fact that where the volume knob should be is the temperature control. Kind of thing you adapt to eventually, but which then works against you when you jump into another car.

I think making screens skeuomorphic - where screen’s emulate conventional physical controls - is a decent solution for now. The ideal would be for anyone to be able to just jump in and drive without needing a tutorial and a learning curve,
 
I see that Volkswagen is going to start up a US-based unit concentrating on electric vehicles... To be called “Voltswagen” (Seriously)

An electric would likely be fine for me... Mostly I commute 10 miles to work and back, and we don’t really “travel” to any extent.
 
Bikewer said:
I see that Volkswagen is going to start up a US-based unit concentrating on electric vehicles... To be called “Voltswagen” (Seriously)

An electric would likely be fine for me... Mostly I commute 10 miles to work and back, and we don’t really “travel” to any extent.
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Maybe not:

German carmaker Volkswagen will not change its name to "Voltswagen" in the US despite earlier saying it would in a press release.

The name change was in fact an April Fool's joke that was leaked to the media several days early by mistake.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56582567
 
Seriously my dream car interface would be

1 Pedal make it go
1 Pedal make it stop

1 Steering wheel with every function I use while I am driving on it; turn signals, lights, wipers, cruise control, basic radio controls, basic climate controls.

1 Touch Screen for everything else
 
JoeMorgue said:
Seriously my dream car interface would be

1 Pedal make it go
1 Pedal make it stop

1 Steering wheel with every function I use while I am driving on it; turn signals, lights, wipers, cruise control, basic radio controls, basic climate controls.

1 Touch Screen for everything else
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With aggressive regenerative braking, you just need the one pedal ;)
 
The Don said:
With aggressive regenerative braking, you just need the one pedal ;)
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No I'm always going to want to keep "stopping" and "not going" as two distinct actions. There's a instant feedback and finality to hitting a break pedal that you don't get from taking your foot off of a gas pedal.
 
JoeMorgue said:
Seriously my dream car interface would be

1 Pedal make it go
1 Pedal make it stop

1 Steering wheel with every function I use while I am driving on it; turn signals, lights, wipers, cruise control, basic radio controls, basic climate controls.

1 Touch Screen for everything else
Click to expand...

The Tesla Model 3 is close to that. Turn signals are on a stalk. Lights and wipers are automatic. Cruise control is engaged by tapping a stalk. Tap twice for autopilot. Speed and following distance are adjusted with a roller on the steering wheel. Audio volume and channel are controlled by a second roller. Climate control is on the touchscreen but I suspect some functions can be changed with voice commands.
 
The Don said:
With aggressive regenerative braking, you just need the one pedal ;)
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I suspect that would require a very steep relearning for those accustomed to taking a foot off the gas to coast down gradually. Presumably with one pedal if you back off too fast the car will screech to a halt. If not, then you'd better also have a brake pedal anyway, even if the brake pedal, instead of activating friction pads, increases the level of regenerative braking to the max. Not to mention, jockeying the single pedal for a hill start could be pretty strange.
 
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