golf cart roof charger

[SunEagle]

I would like to use me 36 volt golf cart battery bank in my emergency solar power system for my house to keep the bare essentials on, how could I do this without changing battery cables every time to make a 12 volt system. any help would be much appreciated

You might be able to find a rare 36v inverter otherwise you will have to disconnect the golf cart batteries and use enough for a 12V system.

[JimmyD2]

I would like to use me 36 volt golf cart battery bank in my emergency solar power system for my house to keep the bare essentials on, how could I do this without changing battery cables every time to make a 12 volt system. any help would be much appreciated

[Thumper4u]

Hi Robert,

Read all the posts.... Been a while now, how is it going ? Looking to do the same. Any advise ?

[NEOH]

Here it is - solar charged golf cart

The solar charger golf cart has been running for a week now. I haven't used the charger in that long either. Batts are topped off and charger is in trickle mode.
It got a lot of use on Sunday. That was the real test. Batts were fully recharged by mid Monday. We just kick it out the door when we open the shop and let it charge all day.

It has one 245W grid tie panel and a Genasun Boost Charge Controller. The charge controller has a DC-DC converter to bump up the available voltage for MPPT regulation to the 48V battery pack.
I have seen 197W peak recorded. That's power out of the charge controller as measured by a Watt meter.

I would say it works better than what we were hoping for. No more plugs and chargers and extension cords really makes operation nice and simple.

Robert

Here are a couple of pics

Wow, you did a fantastic job !!!

[Green LMU]

I have built a few solar roofs for friends using a EZ-GO RXV cart that uses 48 volt battery. First thing is you are going about this all wrong with the one panel concept. As you have discovered there is no 60 Vmp panels unless you go with thin film. Think 2 or 3 panels in series.

You do not have to custom design anything as there are companies who make solar panel roof replacements for any make and model golf cart. What I will tell you everyone I have done one for or know has been very disappointed. Most of them actually use them to play golf everyday or as a NEV or both. All they really are is a range extender and a poor one at that. The carts still need recharged every night with charger after use. So don't go getting rid of you cart charger as you will still need to use it. The problem is simple physics as a golf cart efficiency is around 350 wh/mile, and at best on a full sunny day all the panel can do is give you about an extra mile out of the 15 to 20 miles the battery can deliver on a full charge.

I am designing a golf cart with 3 255W, 24V panels in series and an Outback FlexMax 60 MPPT controller. My Cart has a 48V battery setup. How have you mounted more than one panel on the roof in the past?

[Mike90250]

going strong
The solar golf cart has been in use for almost two months now......

Awesome, thanks for the update.

[Mauisun]

Any chance you could run through this? I have golf cart. I have Grid tie panel. I can mount the panel, but between the panel and the batteries I am fairly green.

[rcpaisley]

going strong

The solar golf cart has been in use for almost two months now.
It hasn't seen a charger since the panel went up. It is always fully charged and ready to go.
The Genasun controller works flawlessly.
The golf cart is used daily as transportation around the facility. Probably gets 2 to 4 miles of driving each day.
It was actually a pretty simple project once I figured out which parts to use,
Robert

[Rusdy]

Expensive Boost MPPT from Genasun

...
I have found "Boost MPPT Controllers" that can step up the voltage internally to feed the batteries, but they are quite expensive.

Yup, I'm in the same boat (the expensive part). So, I built it myself. Take that Genasun (well, not as fancy as yours of course):

Mod note - get permission from user name Jason before placing a link to your site.

Rusdy

[russ]

Thank you Russ for your helpful addition

No problem - always glad to be of assistance.

[rcpaisley]

Here we go again

Thank you Russ for your helpful addition

[russ]

A solar toy - nothing wrong with that but please clarify up front rather than give the idea it is mainline and serious.

[rcpaisley]

charging

Yes, if this cart was used for running 18 holes on the golf course, I don't think the solar charging would have been viable.
But this cart is used at our shop for restroom runs mainly. Typical usage might be a couple of miles per day.
The energy requirements of this duty seem to be well within the energy production capability of the solar panel.

Robert

[Mike90250]

I'm glad it's working for you. Generally, I'd have expected it to take several days to recharge a single day use.

[rcpaisley]

Here it is - solar charged golf cart

The solar charger golf cart has been running for a week now. I haven't used the charger in that long either. Batts are topped off and charger is in trickle mode.
It got a lot of use on Sunday. That was the real test. Batts were fully recharged by mid Monday. We just kick it out the door when we open the shop and let it charge all day.

It has one 245W grid tie panel and a Genasun Boost Charge Controller. The charge controller has a DC-DC converter to bump up the available voltage for MPPT regulation to the 48V battery pack.
I have seen 197W peak recorded. That's power out of the charge controller as measured by a Watt meter.

I would say it works better than what we were hoping for. No more plugs and chargers and extension cords really makes operation nice and simple.

Robert

Here are a couple of pics
golfcart1.jpggolfcart2.jpg