Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Whimsical idea

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Is it too far fetched of an idea to have a removable solar panel slab that can be mounted on the car roof similar to bike rack and connect to the battery pack so that on long road trips the car can continually charge without a need to stop for super charging, After the trip remove the solar panel and store it and go back to normal charging. I guess it may be economically not viable. thoughts?
 
Is it too far fetched of an idea to have a removable solar panel slab that can be mounted on the car roof similar to bike rack and connect to the battery pack so that on long road trips the car can continually charge without a need to stop for super charging, After the trip remove the solar panel and store it and go back to normal charging. I guess it may be economically not viable. thoughts?

Peak panel output for 90 degree incidence angle is around 200W/ square meter. Entire footprint of an S is 10m^2. So best case 2kW output or roughly 6 miles of range per hour.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: MagicMagicD
Peak panel output for 90 degree incidence angle is around 200W/ square meter. Entire footprint of an S is 10m^2. So best case 2kW output or roughly 6 miles of range per hour.
Not to mention the contraption on the roof would increase drag dramatically, much , much more than the tiny amount of energy put out by solar panels. Also note that this is being generous -- this is a solar panel array the size of the car, not just the roof as the OP inquired about.

There are completely solar-powered cars, and they look look like solar arrays on wheels, carry one very light driver only, and average 40 mph. We have a way to go before the concept is viable.
 
Not to mention the contraption on the roof would increase drag dramatically, much , much more than the tiny amount of energy put out by solar panels. Also note that this is being generous -- this is a solar panel array the size of the car, not just the roof as the OP inquired about.

There are completely solar-powered cars, and they look look like solar arrays on wheels, carry one very light driver only, and average 40 mph. We have a way to go before the concept is viable.
Yah, I was going for the maximum possible energy case to show even that was not very helpful.
 
My last car was a Toyota Prius with a similar shaped roof. It had a solar panel roughly the size of a sunroof that ran a fan in the car to keep the interior cooler than it would have been. Not sure the cost, but if the panels could give 10 or so miles per day, could at least offset the vampire drain.
 
Speaking of Solar panels they do have them these days on a lot of Sprinter conversion vans. Like there are a couple on the Winnebago Revel.

If Tesla made a cargo van I could see installing roof mounted solar panels going the length of the Van. Where it would be used to charge the main battery.

Sure you wouldn't get a whole lot, and it would mostly be used to go boondocking for a few days at a time.
 
Speaking of Solar panels they do have them these days on a lot of Sprinter conversion vans. Like there are a couple on the Winnebago Revel.

If Tesla made a cargo van I could see installing roof mounted solar panels going the length of the Van. Where it would be used to charge the main battery.

Sure you wouldn't get a whole lot, and it would mostly be used to go boondocking for a few days at a time.
In many areas, parking in the sun to get solar charging would be outweighed by the extra energy to cool the car back down. Much more energy savings by parking in the shade. (We spend the summer in coastal Washington, so I'm aware that parking in the shade is an unfamiliar concept. Trust me, the shaded parking is the premium spot in many areas of the country. "Enjoy the sun")
 
  • Like
Reactions: JHawk and Big Earl
Some camper vehicless have solar collectors, however they are there to provide some 12V battery charging to provide lights and electricity to keep the battery from going dead. They are not designed to provide the power necessary for traction motors.

Will be enough to run some LED lights, a radio, LED TV, a small water pump for shower or dish washing, as welll as a fan, but not enough for air conditioning.
 
Hmmm, seems like nothing that couldn't be solved by a mid-sized hot-air balloon that suspends a continuous strand of solar cells about a mile up into the atmosphere, with suitable wind-vanes to maintain orientation to the sun. Winds could potentially pull the car airborne... OK, somebody figure out how to keep the car with rubber on the road now, and I think we've got the problem licked.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: jlv1 and Nick B
Hmmm, seems like nothing that couldn't be solved by a mid-sized hot-air balloon that suspends a continuous strand of solar cells about a mile up into the atmosphere, with suitable wind-vanes to maintain orientation to the sun. Winds could potentially pull the car airborne... OK, somebody figure out how to keep the car with rubber on the road now, and I think we've got the problem licked.

What I don't get is why we don't have the energy transmission Tesla proposed.

What are these wire things for?

Aren't we supposed to get through the air?

Or how about direct beam energy from space? Maybe SpaceX could do something useful for once. :p