Well, yet another snowfall has come and gone, with another within a few days coming again to drop more snow in our area!
We still have a non-weatherproof folding portable solar panel of 220watts upon our roof. It's been there since late July 2022, so it's been there through many thunderstorms, high winds, and pouring buckets of rain, and still functioning! Now in its first Winter, it's withstood the blizzard of December 2022 in western New York, and many other snowfalls of more than two inches to a max of over a foot, and after the snow is either blown off by high winds, bumped off with a broomstick (as I've been doing for the past weeks), or just melted in the few rare warm sunny day[s], but it's basically been freezing in the 32° freezing temps for several months now with the exception of a few sunny days (thank you very much Mr Sun!), BUT no matter the climate, temperatures or snow, it's given us enough sun power to charge our three solar battery units within a few days each, at the very least. For the past few days, the solar panel had four inches of snow covering it, and was still giving us some wattage!!
Our batteries are from Enginstar [two batteries at 300watts each] and our newest one is the Amproad Epic 300watt battery, which at times, has exceeded the in-wattage amount of our older batteries, from our Dokio 220W solar panel Kit which they call lightweight at 9lbs, but you try putting that up alone on a roof awning! I am contemplating buying a larger capacity battery of at least 1000watts to test powering our refrigerator or other high-wattage appliances. In my few years of being in western New York, we have been extremely fortunate to not have experienced any long-lasting power outages too many times during these snow, rain or windstorms that the area seems to experience a few times each year. Typically there are thousands without power for days or more, while we - knock on wood/toca madera - still have electricity. We won't always be so fortunate, so having a battery on standby to power things is always a good thing!
Right now the exterior awning the solar panel sits on is not angled properly to get enough effective sunpower, though in bright sunny days, we only get an input of upwards of 90watts to the newest battery, and only an average of 60watts for the two older batteries. In a few more weeks when we have a very sunny warm day, I'll get back up to the awning, remove the panel and install a mount so the solar panel will be angled more effectively toward the sun. Having this mount will also keep the panel cooler with an empty space below it, which isn't the case currently. I am hoping the angled mount and air space under the solar panel will both help push the input wattage higher than it currently is!
Otherwise, we really can't complain. For the two older Enginstar 300w batteries, they each have always charged up in hours on a bright summer day, of course longer on overcast days. It's the same with the much newer and very capable Amproad Epic 300watt battery, charging up faster and often at a higher wattage rate than the other two batteries! No matter the weather, we always get some wattage coming in, and as tiny as under ten watts sounds, even that low amount will charge our batteries within 2-3 days! That's still free electricity from the sun!
We are still thinking about buying an electric vehicle (EV) but now it seems current technology will delay our purchase for a number of years, and maybe a decade. It seems there are on-going technology updates that could enable charging an electric vehicle in the same time it would take to charge today's gas cars! That would be incredible of course, as we cannot see ourselves stopping multiple times in a single day of any trip, just to wait for our car to charge in four but likely much more hours while on the road. The technology however will not be available anytime soon, along with a battery solution in the investigative process now, that could possibly power an EV for up to 1000 miles! Imagine having a car battery with enough power to do that!
Okay, we are waiting, but we aren't young chickens anymore, and we just want our EV before we pass from this world! Maybe in this period of waiting, the technology for an affordable EV would be cost-effective and lower than what the average american EV costs today?
While we are all an "open" society and supporting the car industry of the United States for decades, the car industry is still pricing their cars for million and billionaires! If they want the support of the general public in this race to support the american building and marketing of the electric vehicle of the future in this country, they really need to talk to US: the real true Americans! We - the common people - who work for a living, and still need to have cars of any type at an affordable cost. The car companies need to price cars to sell to us the common folk, not the rich, or you might as well go take your over-priced EVs and try selling them on the Moon, because WE will not buy it. WE supported your industry in the past and you became successful and rich. It's time YOU and your company supported the American people - not the rich only. Give us an electric vehicle we can buy, enjoy, and cherish as we have of all the cars we grew up with, enjoyed, and purchased ourselves.
Price your cars for the working people, the real people of the United States, or YOU will force us to buy from your competing overseas companies producing electric vehicle, that we will purchase.... not because we really want to BUT because you forced us to look at their vehicles instead of American vehicles simply because again, you have priced it out of our budgets, and out of our price range.
WE never turned our back on you, BUT you are again turning your back on the American people. Now, is that fair? Support us, and the people will support you. Screw us as you have for decades now, and you leave us no choice...... Of course, this is just one person's opinion and words, but don't believe us? Try it, and when your car prices are sky-high, let's see how many you sell in America and see how many WE buy of those brands from outside the USA!
Now, when will my solar battery finish charging on this overcast day?
