How Long Till Solar Powered Car?

[Cloxxki]

Convertible roofs, sliding roof windows....
A parked car could have a solar roof fold/slide out, for 10m² of surface aera. Some could be angled to meet the sun halfway.
If the car senses not cars near, it could increase solar surface area even more. Imagine one sliding out from between the battery and the cabin. 5m² more. A fully automous car could look for a sunny place to park. And move itself to keep uptimal angulation with the sun.
In a decent breeze, a small collapsible wind turbine is really worth it. I bet a few kg of added mass could net several kW of power.

 

[tander]

Hey, I (might) resemble that remark! (If the price is right)

Me too if I find it useful/practical for me.

100 Watts per square foot is nominal, normal to the sun angle. For a flat plate collector, the BEST daily average (u.s.) is only 5-6 solar hours. With a more reasonable 15% efficiency on the panels, that gives 2.4 kWh per day. A more average figure would be 1.9 kWh per day, or 6.3 miles of range.

Thank you kindly.

Another thing is it could make more sense on future products. A truck or the mini-bus idea could be 50+ sq ft of roof area to work with, without any retractable ideas.

I was talking about the deployable solar canopy. The roof I'm sure they'll do, lots of dumb people are going to pay for that. And believe me that's going to be a high gross margin option.

If they ever start doing something that can really do off-roading (not sure I'd want to beat a model x up) a big crazy canopy thing could be pretty cool for over-landing.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Not gonna happen. The solar energy available per square meter is about 1000 watts. The Model S has maybe 2 sqm of available surface area to put solar cells. So even if you assume some great leaps in efficiency and a solar cell gets to like 50% efficient that only works out to 1000watts per hour, which means a full charge is going to take like a week of sitting in the sun.

You can't take the batteries out, because then you wouldn't be able to drive at night or when its raining.

It just makes far more sense to put the solar cells on a house, and plug the car in. Then you don't have to worry about the weight of the cells and the inverter, as well as trying to fit them into a car.

This post couldn't be more correct.

A company could make a solar roofed car all they want, however they aren't going to because solar can not power a car. Period.

Why do people keep talking about Solar powering a car?

 

[Garlan Garner]

Lastly a solar panel worth of cells on a car roof would require that the car stay outside for extended periods of time - which is exactly where I'm am not going to keep my Tesla.

 

[JRP3]

Most people park in uncovered lots during the day.

 

[Topher]

Another thing is it could make more sense on future products. A truck or the mini-bus idea could be 50+ sq ft of roof area to work with, without any retractable ideas.

Absolutely. I am working on a design for a solar powered railcar for tourists (like the one in Hungary "Vili"). With the advantages that rails give, and the large roof, it can move 30 people at 25 mph, on solar alone; or 50 mph with the equivalent of a Model X worth of batteries all day long.

Thank you kindly.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Most people park in uncovered lots during the day.

Does not matter.

I kinda disagree in that there are more people that are retired than working.

 

[Red Sage]

Just for the record:

Meh.

 

[Red Sage]

Even if you assume 100% efficiency, the math doesnt work out if you want the vehicle at all to still resemble the shape of a car.

 

[Topher]

People keep asking about it, that means there is demand.

No, it means there is interest. Demand might not follow when they find out they only get an extra 6 miles of range. Few people grok how diffuse sunlight is compared to energies they are used to dealing with. 200 years ago it would have been impressive.

Thank you kindly.

 

[JRP3]

No, it means there is interest. Demand might not follow when they find out they only get an extra 6 miles of range.

How many miles of range do you get from optional paint jobs, upgraded interiors, etc? People pay extra for a sunroof that actually decreases range when open. They also add technical complexity and a potential source of leaks. Maybe if you try to think about this as a cool looking option, (to some people), that also happens to actually provide some energy, unlike any other cool looking option, you might understand why there will be demand if it's priced correctly, which I suspect it will be. You do know people pay extra for things they think look good or have a "cool" factor, right?

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

This post couldn't be more correct.

A company could make a solar roofed car all they want, however they aren't going to because solar can not power a car. Period.

Why do people keep talking about Solar powering a car?

That depends on the car and how much you're driving. DIY yields ~0.8-1.7kWh/day.

APRS Solar PHEV

I wouldn't be surprised if a manufacturer could get ~2kWh-4+kWh or more by incorporating flexible panels into the hood, roof, and trunk. That's enough for maybe ~8-15 miles on something like the model 3. It's not a huge amount, but it would cover a third to a half of my daily drive.

 

[Topher]

That's enough for maybe ~8-15 miles on something like the model 3. It's not a huge amount, but it would cover a third to a half of my daily drive.

Still not clear why you want to have that panel on the car rather than on the house. You aren't needing to extend your range since you only use 45 miles.

Thank you kindly.

 

[Topher]

You do know people pay extra for things they think look good or have a "cool" factor, right?

I do. And you may be right that people will buy them for the 'cool' factor. In which case, they could save themselves some money by just painting the car to look like it has solar panels.

My fear is that Tesla will get a lot of backlash when people find out that they won't recharge the car even if you left it in the sun for a month.

Thank you kindly.

 

[JRP3]

People could also paint things to look like carbon fiber to save money, and use fake leather. Of course some do, others pay for the real thing, even if the extra money provides zero benefit. Real solar panels provide actual energy, counter vampire drain, and extend the life of the 12V battery. Those are three things no other options can do. I'm not at all concerned about a backlash. Tesla will I'm sure be quite clear about actual energy output.

 

[Topher]

Tesla will I'm sure be quite clear about actual energy output.

They were quite clear about 'don't take your hands off the wheel' too.

Thank you kindly.

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Still not clear why you want to have that panel on the car rather than on the house. You aren't needing to extend your range since you only use 45 miles.

Thank you kindly.

Anything that a modest amount of energy would be useful. Offhand, I'd like it for camping mode, further reducing pack temps/increasing pack lifespan, providing a backup to the 12V during the day, minimizing the chances of the battery bricking if I'm away for a while, and I can't complain if it provides a few more miles of range too.

 

[BluestarE3]

My fear is that Tesla will get a lot of backlash when people find out that they won't recharge the car even if you left it in the sun for a month.

I can just envision some uninformed members of the media reading that Teslas have solar roofs to help keep the 12V battery charged, misinterpreting that to mean the EV battery will be kept fully charged by this means. Just as articles conflating Autopilot with "self-driving" have led some to believe their Teslas can drive autonomously, some will be disappointed when they discover their cars won't charge themselves in the sun.

If Tesla does offer such an option, they need to make it abundantly clear what it can and cannot do in their press releases, on their website product and configuration pages and with sales staff training.

 

[JRP3]

They were quite clear about 'don't take your hands off the wheel' too.

Not so much at first, but your argument that Tesla shouldn't offer a solar roof because some people may not understand it is a bit ridiculous. I guess in your eyes Tesla should not have offered autopilot?

 

[bxr140]

Still not clear why you want to have that panel on the car rather than on the house.l.

Not every Tesla owner has a roof on which they can install solar. That will become even more prevalent as M3 rolls out (not to mention other makes).

The average commute is something like 150 miles/week. Current technology can charge many tens of miles/week, but current cost is prohibitive.

If future tech can charge 100-150 miles/week at a competitive cost, that's HUGE for someone that might otherwise have to spend $0.50/kWh at a pay station. Or sit at a local supercharger...