Comments on: Solar Power in Cars

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:33:30 +0000

Being an advocate of some green technology, I am happy to see research in solar cars, however given the cost I doubt that they will become common in our lifetimes.

The folks involved in this research might be better deployed in making stationary solar power generation more affordable, and/or more reliable. If those 2 things happen we will have a real chance of making solar power more than 1% of the total power production in the US.

By: Kerinia Cusick

Kerinia Cusick — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:10:57 +0000

While I strongly support solar energy, I strongly doubt that solar will ever be found to be a good application for mass-produced cars. First of all, photovoltaics (PV) is one of the most expensive renewable technology currently available, and the payback period will exceed the life of the car. Second, PV is fairly heavy, and the added weight to the car will make it impractical and decrease performance. Of course, if some of the nanotechnology companies start to deliver as promised, then that could change. Solar cells could be “painted” onto the car.

By: Nate

Nate — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:26:56 +0000

Wouldn’t photovoltaic panels be better ‘spent’ by putting them on your roof-top and using them to charge a battery electric vehicle? On a car you’re almost never at an optimum angle (and sometimes you’re in the shade or outside!), you have to worry about weight, and the utility of having solar energy recharge you in-transit is questionable.

Simply put, the surface area of a car is inadequate to provide enough solar energy to go an appreciable distance. Even using something like the Aptera 2e, and covering all upward-facing surfaces with solar panels, you’d get maybe 10 miles/day. That’s only a quarter of how much the average person drives in a year.

Put those solar panels on the roof, and it doesn’t matter where the car is parked. Even SolarTaxi, the poster-child for solar-powered vehicles, put half their solar panels on the roof back home and drew power from the grid wherever they went. They fully acknowledged that putting panels on the vehicle was impractical, and that the place for PV is on rooftops, or better yet in tracking, concentrating, liquid-cooled solar farms in the desert.

On-device solar: great for calculators, lousy for EVs.

By: Solar VoIP

Solar VoIP — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:59:52 +0000

@Chris
Availability is one thing – but it should be cheap as well so people can realy buy them!

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:01:54 +0000

Having a market-ready solar car would be a great thing. I’d guess, however, that it will take at least between five to eight years before such cars will really become available for the general public.