Is it possible to add a car battery in-between the solar panel and the gable fan so the fan runs after dark ?, if so how long would the fan run ?
457273
Not a car battery you will never get enough exchange of charge. Maybe a smaller deep cell battery. In theory if the fan runs all day, do you need it at night? Add radiant barrier to the attic floor and you won't
457274
You would have to wire it in a way that it can be recharged when not in use. If you just hook it up so that the battery is running the fan at night you will eventually have a dead battery and will have to buy a new one which defeats the purpose and idea of having a solar operated fan. Anything is possible if you put enough planning and thought into it. My advice is search the internet as I would imagine someone else as already done it and may have some insight onto how to go about it. Good luck and post your findings.what to expect.
457275
I am not sure. I am not good with that kind of stuff. there only are two wires connecting the two. I can tell a difference in my house. we live in Hot Arizona.
457276
Not sure if a car battery can be added, but at any rate it will shut off when temps. go below 85 degrees
457277
What a clever idea. I have no idea, and can't find my paperwork. I had hoped to offer you a manufacturer's website for their customer service. Maybe you can Google it and contact them directly. Love that idea, though.
457278
I'm not totally sure but I think not. The solar panel and car battery have quite different amperages. You'd hate to fry your fan with too strong a current. I would look at the max voltage and wattage of the panel and do the same for the car battery. They should be identical or very close before you try it. also, why would you need to run the fan at night when the sun is not heating up your attic space?
1782666
Battery power goes directly to this unit. If the fan stays on when car is off, you need a new one. This is what happenef to me.
1466662
Depends on how is your cigarette lighter wired. Most cars need the key to be turned to "accessories" in order for the cigarette lighter to have power. Once you have power you can run the fan, how long depends on your car's battery capacity. If you run the fan too long you will drain your car battery. If you do not want to drain your car battery, then you need to run your engine in order to recharge the battery as the fan drains it. So for short periods of time, no you do not need to run your engine, if you want the fan to run overnight, then most likely without running the engine you will drain your battery. Depends on how is your cigarette lighter wired. Most cars need the key to be turned to "accessories" in order for the cigarette lighter to have power. Once you have power you can run the fan, how long depends on your car's battery capacity. If you run the fan too long you will drain your car battery. If you do not want to drain your car battery, then you need to run your engine in order to recharge the battery as the fan drains it. So for short periods of time, no you do not need to run your engine, if you want the fan to run overnight, then most likely without running the engine... » Read More Depends on how is your cigarette lighter wired. Most cars need the key to be turned to "accessories" in order for the cigarette lighter to have power. Once you have power you can run the fan, how long depends on your car's battery capacity. If you run the fan too long you will drain your car battery. If you do not want to drain your car battery, then you need to run your engine in order to recharge the battery as the fan drains it. So for short periods of time, no you do not need to run your engine, if you want the fan to run overnight, then most likely without running the engine you will drain your battery. « Show Less
1308638
yes but you need minimum of 4 car batteries connected together .when the sun is out you could run 5000 ac unit with 2 battery, im gonna buy more in the summer
1648403
In my opinion I would work backwards first. AC Energy Needs: What do you need to power? How many watts? Yousay laptops, radio, and possible fan (just kidding). None of those are big energy hogs. So you could probably get by with a system that outputs a continuous 100 watts. On the safe side lets say 150 watts of continuous AC power. OK, so you need an inverter (converts DC power to AC power) that output at least 150 watts of continuous power. There are lots of good inverters in this range. I suggest one that has a built in fan, high conversion efficiency, and an alarm for low power supply voltage. DC Energy Source: Solar panels output DC energy; however, their out put varies with time of day, cloudiness, and much more. You need a continuous power source. In steps the battery, a power reservoir or buffer. We are not talking car batteries here, as they will not handle the deep discharges and recharges that you could subject them to. Deep cycle batteries are what you want. If you read Northern Arizona Wind & Sun's battery FAQ (http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm) you will fidn they recommend AGM batteries, such as these: UPG UB12350 Group U1 - AGM Battery - Sealed Lead Acid - 12 Volt - 35 Ah Capacity - I2 Terminal. Charging the battery: In steps the Solar Panel. Simply put you use the solar panel to charge the battery. You will also need to put something in between the battery and the solar panel(s), such a charge controller (avoids over charging) or diode (prevents charge from batteries leaking back through to the panels). Of course, you also need the best direct sunlight you can get. Mostly, that is what you need.
482985
Had mine hooked up on the front dash of my Dodge van for a few months. Wasn't able to keep the battery fully charged [it's a conversion van with a small electrical drain somewhere] so am using a 120 volt battery maintainer. The panel held up fine though even with the heat of the windshield.
1325738
I am not an expert here but I would not do that. What I would do is have two different battery banks with a photo sensitive switch that connects the two banks at night. That means, during the day, the banks would be separate but when the sun goes down, the switch would turn on and connect the two battery banks. I have never heard of anyone doing my idea but I think it would work. You are getting advice from an non-pro here so do not act on anything I say without talking to a pro first.
1827638
The fan does not come with a battery for night operation. Only works during sunlight hours.
1425076
I will answer as complete as I can for you. Can you make a wire run with jumper clips on it That can attach to your boat battery and to a terminal on the wall inside of boat house and attach the solar panel to that no more then 8-10 ft. The panel comes with several different types of connectors for the panel end good luck it should be easy to do ?
1564940
My fan had a bit of vibration that caused some noise. I "fixed" it by tying a cord between the fan motor and fan shroud. The fan is now very quiet and I have to stand outside my home just below the fan to know it's running. The solar panel is separate from the fan and the two connect with the power wire. The solar panel must be mounted on a flat surface, not directly on the peak of a pitched roof. The solar panel mounts to the roof with two flat angle iron (aluminum) brackets so it needs to be placed on a flat portion of a pitched roof. Installation instructions are available from the company's website and clearly show the installation requirements. My fan had a bit of vibration that caused some noise. I "fixed" it by tying a cord between the fan motor and fan shroud. The fan is now very quiet and I have to stand outside my home just below the fan to know it's running. The solar panel is separate from the fan and the two connect with the power wire. The solar panel must be mounted on a flat surface, not directly on the peak of a pitched roof. The solar panel mounts to the roof with two flat angle iron (aluminum) brackets so it needs to be placed on a flat portion of a pitched roof. Installation instructions are available from... » Read More My fan had a bit of vibration that caused some noise. I "fixed" it by tying a cord between the fan motor and fan shroud. The fan is now very quiet and I have to stand outside my home just below the fan to know it's running. The solar panel is separate from the fan and the two connect with the power wire. The solar panel must be mounted on a flat surface, not directly on the peak of a pitched roof. The solar panel mounts to the roof with two flat angle iron (aluminum) brackets so it needs to be placed on a flat portion of a pitched roof. Installation instructions are available from the company's website and clearly show the installation requirements. « Show Less
913593
You must get a thermastat. It doesn't run constantly, but work based on the temperature in the attic. It runs, but barely on cloudy days. It has to be sunny. I guess that's the trade off when you get a solar fan, but it runs for free.
2121345
The solar panel needs a good charge controller and battery. If you have that covered, I would say it could run that gear easily.
390631
You may use batteries, or their CPX 6 V Rechargeable Power Cartridge which is sold separately. Lighting works well with high/low settings. The fan is really nothing more than a drain on your battery. I use with the CPX cartridge. Depending on use you may make it more than a night on a single charge. I have always had to charge each morning; though that has been with the use of the fan through the night. Have not been stuck in a situation as of yet where I have had to pull out my solar panel to charge battery so not sure how well that may work.
1721760
Consult the manufacturer. The fan and solar panel are matched to provide sufficient power and air flow. I live in Arizona and solar power is not an issue.
1327136
The battery can draw/use 1 amp and run 7 hours. You have to know how many amps the fan will draw... for an example the fan draws 2 amps then the fan can run about 3.5 hours
1075788
That would not work. It would be like trying to heat your home with a candle. The sun has incomparable amounts of light energy compared to anyman made light. For example say a 12v 7ah battery takes a day to charge in the sun. It would take the same battery 2 months to charge with the lights in your garage.
1251139
Sorry, can you say what the 2260 is? In general, it's possible to run identical panels in parallel, although there are some risks if they aren't generating exactly the same voltage. Typically, circuits with two generator sources (batteries, for example, but solar panels follow the same basic rules) use some mechanism to deal with different voltage outputs. The simplest is to just put a small-value resistor or diode in series with each generator to prevent the one with higher voltage from damaging the other. On your second question (car + solar), I don't know for sure, but I don't think it's a good idea, because your car's alternator will produce a higher voltage than these panels, and they will look like a load to the alternator, running current backward through them. That's probably not a good thing. As before, you could put diodes in series with the panels to prevent "reverse bias" and possible damage to the panels. I'm not actually aware of products that you could use for this purpose for cars. It's probably a bit too sophisticated for such a "low tech" application (stuff like this exists for solar systems for home power). But diodes should work fine. I think somebody in one of the reviews or questions mentioned a solution like this. It's cheap and easy (parts available from Radio Shack, for example).