Solar Powered Golf Carts.
 

Solar EV Systems - Solar Golf Carts, Roof, Tops, Solar Panel LSV Cart Kit for EZGO, Club Car, STAR, Yamaha, Bad Boy

I have not seen one of these in the Villages but assume that some people have them. What has been your experience with yours?

Looks like a money loser, 280 watt kit is $800, stated savings appear to be overinflated. I came up with about $60 in power savings, extended battery life is probably subjective at best.

280 watt panels typically sell for $1/watt, the DC/DC inverter should be around $100, brackets, wire, fuses, etc, allow another $50 or so. Total material, around $430 to $450.

Now think about this, golf carts tend to be typisy on curves, so what do you think is going to happen with an additional 40 - 50 pounds added to the roof area?

Now having stated the above, there might be a case for the person who's GC is outdoor LOTS of hours, and uses it quite often (high mileage), this setup could extend the range of the GC.

I would take a 'wait and see' approach and wait for customer reviews and a more detailed independent review.

I'm waiting to see as well.

Seems like there was a frequent talker on ToTV who has one or sells them.

Come out, come out.......where ever you are.

Just waiting.

Some rough order of magnitude numbers are as follows. It takes about 200 WHs to go a mile, your mileage may vary. If your cart was outside all day, perhaps you get 1000 maybe 1200 WHs of energy from a 200 W panel (angle of the sun matters, as does cloud cover, etc.). This will add 5-6 miles of charge per day. A 1000 WHs from SECO cost about 13 cents (all taxes, fees). So, maybe you save $50/year?

Biker1 your numbers were very similar to mine, I estimated $60. I am actually more concerned to the additional weight at the roof line adding to tip over accidents.

VT,

I had not thought about the safety issues - very good point. The economics would seem to indicate a break even point that is pretty far out. I don't know how to evaluate a potential increase in battery life by keeping the batteries in a higher state of charge but I agree with you that it is probably not as much as the vendor claims. Running a few numbers will help distinguish between doing it for economic vs. novelty reasons, the safety issue you raised notwithstanding. Thanks.

Out of interest, is the watts per mile figure much lower for a modern cart with regenerative braking and LED lights?

I don't know how much lower you mean by "much lower". It will depend on what percentage of your time you have the lights on. The impact of regenerative braking depends on the type of driving you are doing. In summary, I have no clue.

This works for an e-bike.
Woman completes solar-powered bike ride across U.S. | PBS NewsHour

The panels are pretty big and the motor is pretty small. And it only provides 40% of the power.

Seems like there are more practical ways to save a dollar.

I installed a solar panel on my electric cart several years ago (Sun Catcher) Cost me $1400 installed. One of the worse, wasted and dumbest use of hard earned money ever transacted by me. I am ashamed:o

Perhaps you mean this one?


https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...red+golf+carts

Vendor of Solar Panels
 

It was "Jimbo2012"

Ahhhhhhhhhh yes.

I posted this in another thread about Lithium Ion Power Cells....

After reading recently in the Daily Sun about golf carts and Lithium Ion power cells and the huge increase in range per charge, I did a little checking and found the one company in The Villages that is doing the conversion on an existing lead based battery cart.

Advantage Golf Cars AGC, converted my cart from 6 lead based batteries to 15 Lithium Ion power cells with chargers. Here are the results:

weight decreased by almost 200 lbs.
distance per charge increased to over 130 miles!!
time to fully charge approx 5 hours
Power cells guaranteed for 10 years

Since we live all the way "Up North" by Mullberry Grove the best I could expect from old battery setup was to go to Lake Sumter and back in the daylite. If I had to turn on the headlights, we were toast on the way home. The new system allows me to go anywhere anytime (including Brownwood) and still have plenty of charge left. I find myself charging the cart about once a week now instead of daily.

This is a new technology for carts in The Villages and deserves some recognition, especially if you don't like the smell and sound of a gas cart.

Lithium batteries
 

I am in the market for a new cart and was only looking at gas but batteries with a 130 mile range has got my interest.
Would you provide the cost to convert?
Thank you.