[jimbo2012]

Just wondering do carts need to be street legal to ride around the villages?

turn signals, seat belts, brake & tail lights, windshields etc

[Bill-n-Brillo]

If you're going to stay on the multi-modal paths and on the TV streets, ie. any of the designated "golf cart approved" areas, you're good with a standard golf cart.

But you will want tail/brake/headlights, turn signals, windshield, plus a number of other things on a standard cart.

Bill

[jimbo2012]

Ok, what about lites at night, no one use them?

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Heck yeah, man - that's what the head lights and tail lights are for. Necessary for driving the carts after dark.

Bill

[ijusluvit]

However, regardless of whether you are only going to use the cart paths, I strongly recommend having functioning turn signals and headlights. A roof and windshield are almost as important.

(and lots of electric cart owners say a tow rope is essential too. )

[jimbo2012]

Hope I don't need a tow with a solar roof

[Bill-n-Brillo]

jimbo, I don't know that a solar roof panel is going to be the end-all solution to potential battery depletion on an electric cart. I'd think the draw that the motor would put on the batteries would exceed the panel's charge capacity. JMHO....

Bill

[jimbo2012]

A buddy of mine is in the solar biz (and an engineer geek) here on Long Island, he's put together a nice package we're building it here to test it out.

He built one two years ago and it was not plugged in since!

But he doesn't use it like the time/distances at the villages.

He estimates it will add 40-50% more run time/distance.

So he and I are going to run it hard in the next few months and test it.

He motored around LI in a solar powered boat about 250 miles, he loves to experiment.

So my new build will be the guinea pig in about a month.


time will tell.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Ah.....if you're going to that extent, you might well be able to do it. I made a bad assumption about what you were going to have as your "solar roof"!! My bad!

Let us know how it turns out!

Bill

[jimbo2012]

I told him if it works well and he could document it he should move here in the winter and make them a side biz to NY company.

Bill do you have an electric cart?

If so how far or long can you drive it before it slows up?

I hear 30 miles around the Villages.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

No sir, I don't - sorry! Several knowledgeable posters on the topic of electric carts on this forum that could give you all the insight you'd want.

You'd probably want to buzz through the Search function a couple of different ways to perhaps find some previous threads with the info you'd be looking for.

Bill

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by jimbo2012

A buddy of mine is in the solar biz (and an engineer geek) here on Long Island, he's put together a nice package we're building it here to test it out.

He built one two years ago and it was not plugged in since!

But he doesn't use it like the time/distances at the villages.

He estimates it will add 40-50% more run time/distance.

So he and I are going to run it hard in the next few months and test it.

He motored around LI in a solar powered boat about 250 miles, he loves to experiment.

So my new build will be the guinea pig in about a month.


time will tell.

That is pretty interesting. Is it one of the reasons you are interested in moving to The Villages? Sounds like a good place to market such an invention.

[jimbo2012]

Nope the main reason is NOT to work,

I only want to play.


I'm suggesting he moves here for that.

[KathieI]

Jim, I thought there were previous discussions about this subject many moons ago, and I did find the attached link. Maybe this adds to your idea.

Solar powered carts??

[jimbo2012]

Interesting four years ago.

He tells me it's easy to put a panel on the roof, the engineering difficulty is converting the voltage from the solar panel to the 48 volt battery bank.

He's going to start designing that controller.

There are none on the market at the moment or at a realistic price that work well.

I think it's a worthwhile endeavor to keep our carbon footprint to a minimum.