Charging up the UTV on solar power

(Edited)

I have been driving around my new vehicle for a couple weeks now, and got the battery down to around 73%. I was curious how quickly it would charge, and we had a sunny day so it was the perfect time to charge up the vehicle.

Normally I would let them get much lower than this, but the winters provide limited sunlight. So during the summer I expect to let the UTV drop down into the 20s or 10s in battery percentage before recharging. But during the winter I will leave it more charged up. Also better for the batteries to keep it more charged up during use in cold weather.

Letting the battery drop to around 75% I can get an idea of how long it would take to charge when the battery is even more discharged. Should only take an hour or so to get from 75% to full.

I charged up my electric dirtbike the day before on solar as well, though it does not use up much power. I was more curious how my UTV would operate being fully charged on solar.

So I parked my UTV and brought it over to the charging area. I have heaters from my wood furnace that keep my workshop work. I park it by them, so if it was really cold I can help the batteries charge by heating up the UTV a little. Maybe one day I will need that, but for now it stays warm enough in my shop with all the insulation.

I had an electrician wire in 240V which allows fast charging and makes it possible to fully charge within just a couple hours. Otherwise it would take nearly 24 hours to fully charge on 120V.

Switching on the power for the fast charger I plug it in.

Checking the dashboard we can se its charging now. Using 6.1kw of power.

Pretty cool it just plugs into the outlet.

Being a sunny day, I wanted to see if I can charge the UTV fully with just the solar panels and battery.. Using no grid power.

I take a look at my dashboard and sure enough the panels plus battery are fully providing that 6.1kw of power to the UTV to fast charge it.

At 12:30pm we can see a spike in consumption, but the panels and battery are fully supporting that load. No grid used.

While my UTV charges I take my electric dirtbike out and look for some dead trees to cut up for firewood.

Just slowly riding the wood line I look for fungus growing on trees or bark falling off.

Eventually I find a dead pine, its hard to see but theres a dead tree in that patch of live ones.

I keep riding and look for more trees, coming back once its charged.

About an hour later it is fully charged and time to go out and collect firewood.

It starts to get dark so its time to flip on my work light. Glad to have that on the UTV. Since replacing the fuse they all work now.

I cut down the tree I found on my electric dirtbike though I did not get any pictures while doing it. But got many other loads around the property as well that I spotted when riding.

Another dead tree down and cut up. I load it up in the UTV.

No need for headlamps, just back up the UTV to the spot and get loading.

Today was a really successful day, I fully charged my UTV using solar power. And did it during the winter time which is more of a challenge. So I am glad everything worked out, and got some more work done later on.

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49 comments

Very cool that it is showing grid tie-in and what sources the system uses for charging! It actually showed 71% in the picture so it charged 29% in just an hour? Also, I have an old plug-in Prius and that charges faster at first and then slows down at the end, so would be interesting if you were charging from zero would it take less time than 4 hours?

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More like 1.5 hours but yeah it does charge quick.. the 240v allows a much higher current to flow into the batteries.

Good question, during the summer I will need to find out when we have longer days to fully charge it.

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That's pretty cool. 25% in one hour isn't bad at all! Solar farms have been getting a lot of bad publicity around where I live right now, but I think installations like this are a good example of how people can successfully implement a smaller scale to great effect.

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Yeah sure is, quite the fast charge on it.

Thanks, doing my best to be sustainable.

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This solar must be ultimate it can charge anything chargable, does it power up the whole house as well without electricity?

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It can provide most of the power yeah, depending on what we run and how overcast it is.

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Wow... It's so cool my friend, charging the battery through solar power, 25% in one hour I think it's already quite good, you always research about your needs, and it was answered that the UTV charging time for me is very well functioning.
Very good job my friend.

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Waoo!!! All your transport equipment is electronic bro? I imagine that in addition with the solar panels must be profitable investment. What a nice job and economical I imagine @solominer 😉👌.

You have a top of the line equipment set up in your house. Greetings and excellent Tuesday 🫡🫡

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Not all of it.. but a couple of them are.. We got diesel machines as well.

I got some good equipment yeah.

Thanks man hope you do too.

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If I can do it first I have to grow the capital, and thus be able to grow the nursery or plantations to something bigger, both fruit and vegetables, apart from the ornamental plants that I presented.

I will always continue to strive and see if I succeed as you @solominer you are my motivation bro. Greetings and good day !!! 😉🙏🏻

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Good morning dear friend @solominer how are you?

It's great that you are doing this type of research to be able to define the charging time of the UTV

It's great that you also have an electric motorcycle to use while the multi-charger is charging

Excellent results obtained. Congratulations

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Doing good thanks... Sure is nice to have all these machines

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Wow that's cool! It’s great to see how efficiently your UTV charges on solar, even during winter!

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You are doing a really great job, using solar energy to charge your car.Summer is the best time to harness solar energy. Have a nice day 😍

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Indeed, I am looking forward to the summer to see how it works out.

thanks you too...

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It's great that the UTV only took an hour to complete the load, and you can go out and collect the firewood you've cut.
It's definitely been a great day

Excellent equipment you have @solominer

Have a great day

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Yeah I am glad to have them.. they make work much easier.

thanks you too.

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Wow, this is amazing one. Technology is really working. Weldone boss

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Having a vehicle in agriculture is very important and if you know how to manage the system of its load, to always have it that way, with load, it is very important. The intelligence in agriculture is very fundamental, even the times of needs to have our vehicle, you are very intelligent, that's why everything always works out well for you. Success from Cumaná.

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It sure is important, really glad to have it.

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That's right, a vehicle for us is very good to have and to know how to use it. Success

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I note that your publications are very good and valued, that is very positive. I would like you to check my recent publications and give you the valuation that you consider convenient, I also wish you a lot of success.

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A successful day is that day we feel excited about, i like it as well, when my activities is successful.
The dirtbike was truly supporting in packing the fire wood, that back lamp you installed is very powerful.
Good afternoon, friend.

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So true, getting work done is a good day.

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Solar panels are indeed very useful. Like in my uncle's garden which has no electricity, so he bought solar panels to get electricity and it is really useful.

And I am very happy to hear that you can finish your work today well, it is really amazing, have a nice day my brother ♥️🙏

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Oh very nice, glad to hear others are making use of these as well.

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Of course my brother, it's really amazing ♥️

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It's amazing to see how you can make the most of solar energy in your everyday life! From charging your UTV to maintaining energy efficiency during the winter.

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I think so too, my tests seemed to be working in order with the solar array.

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You had a great day, very good. Easy to charge in sunny weather in winter. When the weather is rainy and cold, the problem occurs. How many days can you work with 100 %charge.

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Yeah so true.. the weather does impact the solar power input.

If we just run on bare essentials we can run for at least a couple days.

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I really like your cute truck and the amazing thing is it's fast charging and ability to carry heavy weight despite being electric. The use of solar power at this level is really inspiring! :)

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