Posted on 05/14/2021 3:21:30 AM PDT by sodpoodle
Every year, more people in the United States purchase electric vehicles. While electric vehicles can be charged at home or at many charging locations, many people wonder why these electric cars don’t have solar panels. The following guide explores some of the main reasons that electric vehicles don’t have solar panels on the roof.
Solar panels work by converting energy from the sun into electric power. Modern solar panels are very efficient, with many capable of turning more than 60 percent of the sun’s power into electricity. However, they still have some significant limitations.
On average, a 10 square foot solar panel can generate approximately 50 watts with direct sunlight. This is the equivalent of a single lightbulb. Since most cars only have 10 to 25 square feet of space on their roof, the maximum amount of power they can generate is 50 to 150 watts.
(Excerpt) Read more at solyndra.com ...
Yeah, but it’s sunny in Florida, sonny.
And even here it’s probably virtue signaling.
In some limited apps it might make sense. Say a ranch in AZ where the vehicle can be left anywhere to keep a full charge.
Yeah, keep telling that lie. 60% is rare and it ain't efficient. Only the numerically illiterate believe crap like this.
Little snowflake pussy boi: "Oh it's just another trillion dollars, but the earth's core has be raised to a million degrees by man made global warming, and billions of people die each year because of it. We have to save the earth and it is worth every dollar we spend."
How about using the generator to directly power the car and eliminate the parasitic losses of going into and out from a battery?
Oh, we have that now and it is more efficient than electric.
Garages would be useless. You would have to park your car outside at night to charge the battery.
I totally see this in my head.
I’m DYING!
LOL.
Had colleague who was an Eco nut in the 90’s.
Had a converted electric car powered by lead acid batteries.
The roof was covered with solar panels.
First the thing handled like a pig because of all the weight in the front from the mass of batteries. Second it would slow down as load increased, and going up a ramp with a low charge would slow it to a crawl. Third, we lived in Sacramento, and all it had was a tiny fan on the dash for cooling.
Dan would come to work drenched in sweat during the 100+ degree days in the summer. Best was one day, about 3 miles from work he ran out of charge and had to coast into a local gas station, and ran his 110 volt extension cord into the stations outside outlet and ran the 3 miles to work.
Tesla is claiming that its superchargers will be 100% powered by “renewable energy” this year and “almost all” will be disconnected from the grid.
They also said you would be able to buy your Tesla with bitcoin. /snicker
Yep, “4-60 Air Conditioning” (and the Desert Water Bag in front of the radiator). I forgot to mention that the Toyota Prius solar vent system was for when the car was parked.
An Audi Etron electric SUV, for example, has a 100 kWh battery, with a range of over 200 miles.
With a 240V, 30 AMP level 2 household charger, that’s about 9 (nine) hours of charging to get it from ‘empty
to full.
A 365W LG Neon 2 solar panel is 3.5’ X 5’. So MAYBE you could mount 3 of them on a bimini canopy above a vehicle. Full sun you might be getting 1100W.
Do the math. Ain’t gonna charge that vehicle very fast, but it WILL charge it eventually.
“WHY DON’T ELECTRIC CARS HAVE SOLAR PANELS ON THE ROOF?”
They don’t have enough capacity. What a bunch of BS.
We all know the REAL ANSWER:
It’s the OIL COMPANIES and BIG POWER conspiring to limit solar flux on the rooftops of cars. Get them out of the way, and rooftop solar will take you from here to California, with only having to stop at night!!!
I hate these BS articles.
Cars are mostly sold by their cool looks. If the Tesla looked like a golf cart, even if it was the most efficient electric car in the world, it wouldn’t sell well. (Also, oddly enough, it wouldn’t sell well if it was cheaper than an equivalent gas car.) Lots of manufacturers in the thirties, forties and early fifties thought the public wanted a small, efficient car. Bantam comes to mind. It turns out people want sex appeal, or, at least not to stand out as different*. Also, when someone wants to drive the family from Florida to Ohio, they do not want to listen to the wife complain about long, uncomfortable periods when the car is charging. When it comes down to it, a man will do handsprings to avoid listening to the inevitable complaints. Using a gas car is a lot less strenuous than handsprings.
* I think the VW Beetle didn’t catch on until it became the symbol of hippie generation. THEN, it was okay to be different, to make a statement.
I can't stand the things, but for folks who live in populated areas, that's probably more than enough for their daily commute or trip to the grocery store and back.
I'll stick with the internal combustion engine for now.
how about a gas powered generator in the trunk? i know the technology is untested but worth a shot.
Because they would get damaged or stolen.
(Starting with Vehicle 1 already parked at work).
-Drive Vehicle 2 to work (Vehicle 3 is parked at home charging)
-Drive Vehicle 1 (two-day-charged) home
-Drive Vehicle 3 (two-day-charged) to work
-Drive Vehicle 2 (two-day-charged) home
-Drive Vehicle 1 (two-day-charged) to
-Drive Vehicle 3 (two-day-charged) home
Repeat
If you do any weekend driving, no problem; you can add a fourth or fifth car. Order them in different colors to help keep track of where they are in the process.
Yes, but then yuppies would have to find some other way to signal their superior virtue.
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