Try thinking of it as having a bottomless gas can in the back of your truck.
what an oil pill that would make!
The Captain
wants his tanks to have well sealed bottoms… LOL
The solar panel is the roof so it is NOT a roof AND a solar panel.
NH
…may-note may- actually be worse than not having them.
Why?
NH
…may-note may- actually be worse than not having them.
Why?
Added weight. But I have no idea how much, and can’t even totally dismiss the possibility that the amount is zero or negative. Therefore the emphasized “may”.
The solar panel is the skin of the car.
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The solar panel is the skin of the car.
Yes, everyone can see that in the photos. Nobody is saying it isn’t. But nobody has found out if the solar panel weight is more or less than if the roof was sheet metal.
Even if the weights are equivalent, the cost of the panel is likely more than sheet metal. So one would need to find out if the savings from the lifetime watts produced is more or less than the cost of the panel.
Then there is the potential damage to car by leaving it in full sun to maximize your electrical production. Sun has damaging effects to the exterior paint and interior of the car. Damage costs from parking it in full sun in the driveway instead of in the garage may be more than the savings from the electricity production from the solar panel.
PSU
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The solar panel is the skin of the car.
That does not tell us whether it (plus any necessary extra wiring and control circuitry) weighs more, less, or the same as a skin made of more common materials.
“The solar panel is the skin of the car.”
I’m sure if it were cost effective and productive, Teslas would already come with solar panels built into the roof.
On the other hand, cars are sculpted to be the most aerodynamic as possible and I’m not sure you could mold solar cells into the contours of a normal sloping multi-angle roof. Roofs are designed to be structurally strong enough for a roll over and for the least weight needed for that.
t.
I’m not sure you could mold solar cells into the contours of a normal sloping multi-angle roof
Flexible solar panels exist, I had one on my boat. They are (were?) less efficient than rigid ones.
The Captain
I’m not sure you could mold solar cells into the contours of a normal sloping multi-angle roof
Flexible solar panels exist, I had one on my boat. They are (were?) less efficient than rigid ones.
But are they flexible in two dimensions simultaneously? (I have some flexible cutting boards. They are easy to curl side-to-side. They are even easier to curl end-to-end. I CANNOT curl them end-to-end WHILE they are curled side-to-side.)
And every material is either flexible, malleable, or brittle, if you try hard enough. I would kind of expect (but I’m not an engineer of any relevant sort) that a sheet of solar cells WE think is flexible would provide less protection in a rollover accident. To fix that would require an underlayer of some sort, which would contradict the claim that the solar cells are the roof.
It has been a while since I looked at the video, but if I recall correctly the skin/panel is plastic … key in the design of this vehicle was weight reduction. This is a demonstration, not a serious effort to snag a meaningful segment of the EV market. Earlier remarks about not being worthwhile to put a panel on a car are, if anything, underscored by this demonstration … having done incredible things to reduce weight and drag and having created this special plastic so the whole car could be the panel, they still are only able to get a tiny part of the total electricity from the sun instead of from a battery.
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But are they flexible in two dimensions simultaneously?
Mine was but not too much. I believe they could be made quite flexible because it’s a film that goes over some substrate.
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q…
The Captain
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I have just realized that the video I am referencing was for a different car. I will attempt to find that reference. My memory is that it was more successful in being able to get a meaningful amount of driving out of the sun.
Tamhas: “Aptera!”
Aptera commutes just on solar
Just recently we said that the surface area of EVs is not large enough to power the vehicles. The Aptera is proving us wrong!
https://discussion.fool.com/aptera-commutes-just-on-solar-349532…
The Captain
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Found it.
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsYyJJFYRvc
1000 mile range with battery. Drive modest amounts and the solar will handle it without charge.
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