Solar Powered Tesla Model 3?!

[ZOMGVTEK]

This is an interesting concept for sure. But unlike rooftop solar, I think some time would really help this work. Double the power would be great here.

I assume the 1.25kw rating is the total power rating of the cells used. Not accounting for whatever coverglass they have on the cells. And then of course the cells are not mounted at ideal angles which cuts output a fair bit. And it’s not really possible to have them track the sun without huge complexity and aero issues. I would assume the roof would shade some of the cells sometimes. Presumably the cell temperatures would be elevated over standard roof mounts with airflow under them, leading to further reduced efficiency. And the angle you park the car will have a moderate impact in generation over the day.

No doubt it could work. But probably not today...

 

[Kuhz]

use it for phantom drain. It could help leaving the EV @airports etc.

Yeah but I’d rather keep it out of the sun....

 

[Coulomb_Cowboy]

OK, we're very far from perfect, but it's worth looking at what could be possible...

Theoretical maximum you could ever get would be something like:

100% solar --> electricity conversion= 1kW/ m^2.
Surface area of a typical car you could get 5m^2 (assuming covering all body, windows, etc.)
Make a gross simplification of time/sun incidence angle/ sun intensity throughout the year an say 8 hrs/day

That gets to 40 kWh/ day

Assume an efficient car at 0.125kWh/ mile

...you get 320 miles/day.

Again, we are nowhere near reaching these performance levels... Especially on the solar generation side.

But in 50 years? Who knows?

Imagine if someone went into a coma after watching a Space Shuttle launch. They wake up and see a Falcon Heavy mission... This might not seem like such an impossibility.

 

[SageBrush]

I watched a Robert LLewyn (sp ?) interview of the company principals. The car is NOT a PV on the roof only car, and I don't think anybody seriously views it that way. Their design goals are to reduce the grid burden from EVs by

1. markedly reducing energy/km
2. obtaining some of the energy from the car itself.

I'm not sure that the idea will win in the marketplace vs BEV only since battery costs are dropping so quickly but they are smart to ride the PV price curve and as we all know with Tesla, efficiency is king. For now they appear to be thinking about the market saddled with an unreliable grid.

More power to them. One way or another, I am confident that their tech will gain wide application because their ideas are fundamentally sound. Heck, they might just leapfrog the issue of workplace charging.

And one other thought: that car is leveraging the electronics needed for PV; eventually the marginal cost will approach the cost of roof panels.

 

[wws]

No one is saying the car has to be 100% powered by the solar roof and hood. It still has a complete charging system like any of todays EVs do. But snagging enough free power for (more or less) 16 miles/day, while the car is just sitting in the sun in a parking lot at work, is nothing to sneeze at. That is with existing, almost off the shelf, solar panel efficiency of around 20%. Plus, as the Toyota system in the video I posted showed, while driving it could off-load the 12v system - giving a few extra MPGe.

For the record, I have a solar PV system on my house too.

 

[tvguy710]

Yeah, it's just a little more practical to put those panels on your home's roof if possible. I can offset the energy needs of the house and two EVs that way whereas panels on a car would rarely be at an optimal position to maximize power output.

On my best day, I've generated 83kWh which could completely recharge the Model 3. This month, I've averaged over 58kWh per day. To offset the power needed by EVs, you have to be generating a lot of power which just isn't possible with current tech limited to the top surface area of a car. The surface area of a roof is another story.

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how many miles do you drive a week or a month? I have sunpower and going to need more panels, just got to figure out how many I'll need. Obviously going to go a couple of months, but an insight ahead of time will help.

 

[RFernatt]

how many miles do you drive a week or a month? I have sunpower and going to need more panels, just got to figure out how many I'll need. Obviously going to go a couple of months, but an insight ahead of time will help.

Lot of variability with trips there, but I'd say about 1,000 miles per month average between the 3 and Leaf. We are accumulating an electric credit since we don't use everything produced and ended a 12 month period with an extra 1,000 kWhs after using some credit during the winter.

If you know your annual mileage, you can easily estimate how many kWhs you'll need to generate for the car and then add that to whatever % you want to cover from the house to see how much you need to upsize the system.

 

[tvguy710]

Lot of variability with trips there, but I'd say about 1,000 miles per month average between the 3 and Leaf. We are accumulating an electric credit since we don't use everything produced and ended a 12 month period with an extra 1,000 kWhs after using some credit during the winter.

If you know your annual mileage, you can easily estimate how many kWhs you'll need to generate for the car and then add that to whatever % you want to cover from the house to see how much you need to upsize the system.

That's awesome, currently have the same situation with having some left over at the end of the year, definitely not enough to accommodate the Tesla.

How easy is that calculate, going to be driving about 27K miles a year...

 

[RFernatt]

How easy is that calculate, going to be driving about 27K miles a year...

Grab the efficiency rating from www.fueleconomy.gov in kWh/100 miles (see screenshot below), then the following calc assuming a Model 3 rated at 26 kWh/100 miles.

1. 27,000 annual miles / 100 = 270
2. 270 * 26 kWh = 7,020 kWh
3. 7,020 * 1.10 = 7,722 kWh needed annually

That last step is adding 10% for charging losses which could be a little more depending on your setup. Bump it to 1.15 to be more conservative. And, of course, YMMV with different driving habits, conditions, etc. so you might add buffer for that too if you drive all interstate at 80 mph in cold weather, but this gives you a decent estimate until you have real life data.

 

[tvguy710]

This is great info, thank you very much. Going to see how it goes for a couple of months. Most of my drive is HWY. I am also planning on charging it a lot at my parking garage at work. They have a free setup there. I'm hoping I only need to add 6-9 panels on the house to get about 4,000kwh per year, maybe I'll need less...

Again thank you for this and will definitely make a decision by the end of the year the latest to ensure I still get the 30% fed tax credit on the panels.

 

[muleferg]

Visited the solar team at ASU in Boone. Eight student got the Tesla grin in my P3D+. I let my friend the coach drive them.

Team Sunergy - Appalachian State University

 

[SageBrush]

If you know your annual mileage, you can easily estimate how many kWhs you'll need to generate for the car and then add that to whatever % you want to cover from the house to see how much you need to upsize the system.

If your home is net metered. The most basic advantage of the solar car is that the PV panels go with the car.

 

[RFernatt]

If your home is net metered. The most basic advantage of the solar car is that the PV panels go with the car.

True, but the tech has some way to go before it's practical.

 

[SageBrush]

True, but the tech has some way to go before it's practical.

Judging by the dutch group, it is here. I'm sure it is expensive, but so were the first couple generations of Tesla.

Now that I drive around in a car with an expansive glass roof, embedding PV in it seems an obvious step. If car PV can cover ~ 1/3 of fleet miles it will be a boon to national climate goals.

 

[vickh]

Vickh, you're a genius! Yes, it would be perfect for dealing with phantom drain parked at locations where there is no charging infrastructure or "off grid" such as a camp site.

How about putting this in the trunk and putting on the top when parked for a while, till Tesla adopts my idea! (tweeting @Elon now

Is this a good price

Renogy 100-Watt 12-Volt Monocrystalline Solar Panel $87 + Free Shipping


Also what else would I need for my DIY portable trickle charger solution?

 

[Evoforce]

Now, who is going to start talking about mounting fans on their car to generate electricity?

 

[Rothgarr]

How about putting this in the trunk and putting on the top when parked for a while, till Tesla adopts my idea! (tweeting @Elon now

Is this a good price

Renogy 100-Watt 12-Volt Monocrystalline Solar Panel $87 + Free Shipping


Also what else would I need for my DIY portable trickle charger solution?

Neat idea, but I have 360W panels on my roof and on a perfect day they each create 2.25 kWh a day.

A 100w panel is going to create way less. Just doesn't seem worth it.

 

[astrowunder]

The OP is using a 45 watt panel- I hope he didn't buy this recently because Harbor Freight has been selling a 100 watt system for the same price for some time now. I have the 100w system. The system is at best only about 60% as far as power out after going through the inverter. So on a good day you can get maybe 1/2 a kilowatt hour of juice. That small amount of power would not be enough to offset the typical phantom drain from the car, so in reality you could at best offset the phantom drain a bit. Much better solution is rooftop solar.

I use my 100w system to power my ebikes and recharge my gadgets- works really well for that.

 

[TT97]

Just to continue beating the dead horse.

I have 22 360 watt panels at home which produce roughly 12 MW per year (which is very close to my annual consumption). I drive below the national average at 10-12k miles per year and roughly a quarter of my house power consumption is to charge the car.

So, in order to have a self powered car, I would need to drive around with 6 solar panels on top of my car (ignoring weight/arodynamic issues from the panels on the car). I would also need to make sure never to drive under any shades and always park in the sun to maximize the production.

I think I prefer my current method of producing at home and transferring to the car each day (and that is not even taking into account the fact that my home panels will considerably out live the car.)

 

[Jack6591]

I’ve done over 500 solar inspections. In my view the overwhelming majority looked awful. The challenge, is to make solar look good.

With a small system on my rooftop that is hidden from view—my new expansion will be a pergola with frameless panels. Eye of the beholder, I guess.