Solar Police Cars in Ohio
Filed Under: Environmental News, green automotive technology on June 14, 2009
OK, the title is misleading, I’ll be up front about that. Their cars aren’t really going solar, but they’re getting solar panels installed into the back windows to power the car’s electronics. So it’s sort of true, if you stretch it a bit, and it makes for a good headline. Right?
The Ohio State Highway Patrol plans to save about a million bucks in fuel costs by installing these panels in their cars. Now, officers on “stationary patrol” (parked at key locations or watching traffic) can shut their vehicles down and not drain their batteries with their radios and other electronics. Plus it should save some money on the batteries themselves, which will gain charge time when the electronics aren’t draining the panels’ input.
Most cops now, when they sit in their cars, keep the engine idling in order to keep their electronics powered up. Radios, portable computers, and so forth can create a lot of drag on a vehicle’s battery. These panels should eliminate much of that and allow the cars to be off during the daytime. When the car is off and vacant, the panels will keep the batteries topped off, which boosts their lifespan as well.
Each car gets a $37 solar panel (5W output) that will wire simply and directly into the lead-acid battery under the hood. The OSHP says that 1,200 cars are slated to get these installations done this year.
One more interesting note: the brackets used to install the panels are made from rejected (misprint) license plates. Recycling even! Nicely done, Ohio!
You can see a video on this at the WTOL Channel 11 news site.
