So I acknowledge that I am well past the point of saving money on my car so the cost of the cells is not really an issue. But, assuming I could cover the roof of my car with
solar cells rated for at least 125watts or more would it actually let the car run totally alternator free during an average day?
Also the body on my car is pretty well shot so I have no problems drilling a few dozen holes in the roof or even cutting most of the roof up to mount them. Can I just glue the cells to the roof and run the wires down a small hole into the interior where I connect them together and run it through a charge controller to the battery? Do I have to cover them with something to protect them like a sheet of acrylic? I figure if They can be glued directly to the roof and possibly just covered with a sheet of 1/8" acrylic then that is no big deal and won't really change the aerodynamics of the car significantly. They don't seem like they are that thick and using something thin to cover them would at most add 1/4 inch to the top.
I have never really done any real world stuff with solar panels so I don't know how well they would work in a situation like this. The 125W number is just a wild guess that the car probably needs about 10 amps to run. It could be higher or lower but I don't think I have enough roof area to get much more than 200W on there. I would put the alternator on a latching relay so I could turn it on or off when needed. Also converting to led lights would help lower the current loads.
This is just an idea I am wondering about and if it seems worthwhile I would probably give it a shot this winter while I have nothing better to do.
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