Eco Parcel Shelf - Solar Charger / Charge Controller

[kyepan 291]

Quite a bit more progress last night.. but not quite finished.

 

Firstly the main cuts were made.

 

Then some trial fitting of the speakers in there recesses and a few more bits of trimming, until they fitted nicely, and everything would go together.

 

 

Then the bottom two sections needed glueing and screwing together, using some 10mm self tappers and simple woodglue, then leaving it under something heavy whilst i made bacon and avocado omelette.. yummy

 

The glueing had not worked in places because the sheets had changed shape overnight, reacting to the lack of moisture in the house. A few more screws got the rest of it flat and solid. A bit more time under something heavy gave time to move onto the top stealth fabric covering.

 

Not used this acoustic cloth from maplin before, and decided to go for it, rather than spend time looking at rubbish youtube videos on something i already know.

laid the cloth underneath, tried trimming with my kitchen scissors, gave up, then put it on a sheet of ply and trimmed using a stanley blade with the fabric held taught

I bought some heavy duty spray adhesive as advised (3) and used the spray adhesive liberally to hold the edges in place, made the cut for the panel, and folded the fabric back, and glued the flaps, seemed to work and looked fine.

 

Next onto the bottom two layers where the panel will sit, now they were a bit drier.

Mastic was used to help seat the solar panel, it's a soft mounting and should help reduce any vibrations a bead around the edge of the recess, then some behind it, then firmly pressed into place and a bit more to fill the gaps around the edges.

 

I started mounting the speakers, then realised i needed to trim the bottom.

Again that involved trimming a rough outline in the fabric, making a cut for the panel cable, spraying, sticking, trimming the corners and excess, then cutting the speaker holes and folding the excess back.

 

 

Now the speakers could be mounted with their screw cap nuts and bolts. For good measure I ran a bead of sealant around them just to dampen a bit more.

Speakers in and nice and tightly bolted down. However, they are only bolted to the bottom sheet, hopefully it won't affect the sound too much, when everything glued and screwed together as one solid object.

 

Then it was simply a case of sticking the two halves together, with a combination of wood glue and the spray adhesive, then screwing some 1.5 cm screws through the bottom to hold it all together.

 

 

After that i did strike a small problem, for ... well.. cause i'm a tart and i like things to look good, i mounted the panel in the middle and towards the bottom of the window my thinking is it would get more light there. unfortunatly there is not enough space to mount the amp using the larger screws it needs, as they would penetrate into the panel. In the end i put it where it could go, and used washers, it's a bit skew, but ok generally.

Mounted the charge controller at the same time.

 

So that's the shelf done mostly - 5W charge controlled mono crystaline panel and stealth 6x9's

 

I'm going to sort out the lower rear angle section flap by doing the following, Cut my old shelf apart, wrap the lower section in fabric and screw it underneath the shelf to close flush with the rubber strip. perhaps brace it internally with some more covered ply. then round off the pegs with some sandpaper, so it's liftable.

 

 

 

Now a question. I want to disconnect it, as i understand it i will have

 

+ve from battery to amp

-ve from amp to ground

+ve from battery to charge controller

-ve from battery to ground

Can i combine these? and if so how?

 

Plus what quick release power connector would people recommend for 20-30A

the solar controller is only rated to 10A.. so i'm wary about sending more through it on a combined circuit.

 

As far as the audio connectors are concerned i'm going to mount some phono connectors underneath, or possibly buy a Din (multi plug audio thingy) and solder it up with all three. (remote, L, R)

 

Thoughts and comments on the wiring much appreciated.

[kyepan 291]

Talking to a friend it seems that i can simply connect the charge controller to the amp, as that is permanent live, and it will charge whilst the amp is off and block whist the amp is on, less cable to run also.

 

JB

[Anthony 1,000]

Looking good J.

 

I'm not entirely convinced about hanging the amp off the underside of the parcel shelf like that, but I guess it should be fine so long as it is strong enough (which it sounds like it should be) although you might want to look at beefing up where the parcel shelf rests if that weighs how much it looks like it does. The silly sprung blocks at the rear probably aren't ideal and the front clips potentially liable to break if there's too much movement or shock.

 

Should be no issue with the charger sharing the wiring beyond possible noise. The one thing that I am slightly dubious about is whether that charger would need to be disconnected from the circuit before subjecting the battery to large electrical load (eg starter motor) as it might not take very kindly. Would be easy enough to do with an ignition switched normally closed relay, so that when the ignition is on, it is disconnected from the circuit / powered off - which would likely sort any possible noise worries with the amp too.

[miamibungers 8 1 Cars]

Looks like a good job! I personally wouldn't have the amp on the parcel shelf either, but each to their own.

 

Echoing what Anthony mentioned, make sure that shelf is very very secure, I know someone who ending up losing their life because of an insecure parcel shelf. The shelf, including 6x9's, came loose in an accident and flew forwards through the car...

[kyepan 291]

like the stereo... i get you.

[kyepan 291]

The shelf, including 6x9's, came loose in an accident and flew forwards through the car...

 

Hopefully not in a 205....

perhaps i can move the amp then, that does make the wiring a bit more complicated, has anyone successfully mounted it on the back of a seat?

 

Total weight of the shelf including speakers and amp is about 5kgs, if the clips did break in an impact it would hit the backs of the seats. I've seen the videos of toolboxes coming flying into the cabin, that's why i put mine behind the drivers / passengers seat.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2012 by kyepan

[Anthony 1,000]

I know someone who ending up losing their life because of an insecure parcel shelf. The shelf, including 6x9's, came loose in an accident and flew forwards through the car...

That's something you would expect to see in a Final Destination film, not the kind of freak accident to kill someone in real life

[welshpug 1,621]

think of the weight

[miamibungers 8 1 Cars]

Sadly true I'm afraid Anthony. It was the speaker that finished him off, not the head on collision. It was in a civic tho, not a 205.

 

(null)

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

Thats a worrying thought, considering my 6x9s have the largest magnets I have ever seen in a speaker of this size

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6x9-2000w-Car-Component-Speakers-580w-RMS-6x9s-6-x-9-/290547815172?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item43a5ffd304

132oz for each speaker apparently!

 

i've added extra alu angle to support the shelf, and will shortly be adding a fastening mechanism, to clamp it onto the supports, yet in a way that it will still be removable

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

Looking good, will the lugs fit into the parcel shelf clips?

 

Can I have my parcel shelf back please

[kyepan 291]

Can I have my parcel shelf back please

 

yep, much appreciated!

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

[ponz 2]

Ah, holdonaminute, last time I checked solar panels don't work through glass, because all the UV rays get filtered out. I have a handheld solar charger for my phone, and the instructions say not to charge behind glass. I've put it behind glass before to test it, and it charges absolutely nothing...

[kyepan 291]

It's a mono crystalline panel, that should be efficient enough to work through glass. Touches wood

[GLPoomobile 958]

So how come solar devices such as calculators work indoors, and have done for decades?

[BenC 6]

Ah, holdonaminute, last time I checked solar panels don't work through glass, because all the UV rays get filtered out. I have a handheld solar charger for my phone, and the instructions say not to charge behind glass. I've put it behind glass before to test it, and it charges absolutely nothing...

 

I would guess that perhaps as you're in Australia your glass might be more likely to have some sort of UV tint/filter with the stonger UV exposure that you get, particularly if it's cars we're talking about?

Edited March 2, 2012 by BenC

[kyepan 291]

So how come solar devices such as calculators work indoors, and have done for decades?

they are amorphous Panels that work in lower light, but are much lower efficiency.

[ponz 2]

Solar panels do not work effectively through glass.

 

Try getting a suntan sitting behind a window. You'll need about 3 days of uninterrupted exposure to get any colour at all. It's the same for solar panels, you'll get next to no charge from behind glass. And no, we don't have 'special' glass here in Australia, it's the same as the rest of the world!

 

Don't want to be a naysayer, because solar panels on a car is a great idea, but perhaps before going any further you should consider putting the panels somewhere else, such as on the roof? That pic with the solar panels on the roof looks pretty cool.

[omega 82]

dont know whos right or wrong on does the solar panal work through the glass question but dont some companys sell solar battery charges that you leave on your dashboard while your car is parked up?

[kyepan 291]

Hence the reason I overspecced the panel. 5w monocrystalline rather than the usual 1.5w "car charger" polycrystalline jobby

 

That and I tried a 1.5w previously and it did nothing

[SurGie 54]

Looks a great project so far, some really good ideas.

 

Would the angle of the parcel shelf then the boot glass etc make it absorb less light, the sun wont be directly over it all ?

 

Wouldn't a bigger alternator give the power you need for the stereo system ?

[Anthony 1,000]

Wouldn't a bigger alternator give the power you need for the stereo system ?

The solar panel is just for keeping the battery "topped up" when the car isn't being used, and as such only needs to provide sufficient current to cover the parasitic drain of the alarm, stereo memory, clock etc.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Well, because I'm a saddo, I went away and did some reading on solar charging. Whether correct or not, this is what I found

 

1) Solar charging is based on the photons within light affecting the electrons in the solar panel (or summat like that ), so it's not based on UV....

2)....but, the Japanese are developing transparent solar panels that use UV to charge, and these will be able to be used as windows that charge! Cool, eh?

3) Glass doesn't block all UV waves, so even if solar chargers were using UV, that theory is pish

4) Further to the above, I have been sunburned through glass, and I didn't have to sit still for three days for it to happen!

5) Solar charging does work through glass. Yes, the glass will reflect or absorb some of the photons, so it will have some effect on efficiency, but not enough that you can say "soar chargers don't work behind windows"

[kingboyk 2]

kyepan... interesting that you should ask about how to reduce exhaust noise, as I've been known to drive along in winter with the windows down and the heater on just so can I hear that wonderful sound!

 

I've got an original Alpine head unit and CD shuttle, both boxed, and some Alpine 6205 6x4s, an Alpine amp, and a Kenwood amp, all of which came out of my Renault 11 Turbo in about 1994 and haven't been used since... I was thinking of fitting these into the 205 but man the weight! Seeing this little head unit you've found has made me wonder if I'd be better off selling the retro Alpine kit or keeping it for a bigger car and getting the CDE133BT for the Pug. After all most of the time the engine and exhaust are my music.

 

The only thing I can see "wrong" with this new Alpine is that it only has one pair of phono outs and - please correct me if I'm wrong - they're for the front channel or a sub only?! Any time in the past me or a mate had a one amp setup it was for the rear so I don't know what Alpine were thinking there.

 

Drove up to the local car hifi centre today only to find they've closed down. So, I was wondering if you've got round to fitting that new Alpine yet and what your thoughts on it are? From what I can tell fitting the thing should be easy as pulling out the original radio (done) and connecting it to the original 205 wiring with a 205 to ISO adapter/harness?

 

I'd be especially interested to know how loud it is and if you think this head unit with the OEM speakers (or in my case, Alpine speakers in the OEM locations) would be enough, or am I going to be screwed by the lack of a rear out?

 

I see the Americans have a got a CDE135BT with front/rear/sub output so I may have to hold out for that if there's any doubt about the volume