[frank ballenger]

RE: Your reference to solar cars....

There was an Israeli who invented a method of linking solar panels on top of a VW car to an engine. “Citicar” in 1980.

Was talked about for a while but didn’t lead to much success. Probably would require a weight like a couple of bank safes to produce a large car’s or a truck’s (not even a semi’s) power requirements.

Story:At the engineering department at Tel Aviv University in Israel, Arye Braunstein and his colleagues created a solar car in 1980 (pictured below). The solar car had a solar panel on the hood and on the roof of the Citicar comprised of 432 cells creating 400 watts of peak power. The solar car used 8 batteries of 6 volts each to store the photovoltaic energy.

The 1,320 pound solar Citicar is said by the engineering department to have been able to reach up to 40 mph with a maximum range of 50 miles.

https://www.automostory.com/first-solar-car.htm

[Nervous Tick]

Interesting! Thanks for the link.

I am 100% in favor of engineering efforts like those depicted. They’re learning exercises.

And I’m 100% against politicians imposing controlled economies and lifestyles based on fantasies like “fighting” Anthropomorphic Global Warming. They are totalitarian exercises.

FRegards

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Darwin to Adelaide, Australia.

https://worldsolarchallenge.org/

[redfreedom]

We bought an RV last year with a 400 watt panel. What a joke. It could not keep up with normal power use during the daylight. The batteries were unusable around 10 PM so we could not use the furnace.

We do a lot of backwoods camping where there are no electrical hookups. So this year we added two more 400 watt panels and another battery. With this setup we expect to have a system capable of meeting all daylight demands as well as night time.

We have twin Honda generators as backup, but listening to them grind away is really annoying, which is why we went with the extra solar panels.

A point I’d like to make is about that VW car with the 400 watt panel. Based on our experience, that car had very little range and the panel could not keep up with energy use. It was pretty much a joke.

[Sequoyah101]

Someone did one of the popular electrifications of an Allis-Chalmers G and put a cover over it made of solar panels. The little tractors work well for little truck farm operations. The panels don't sustain them but when the batteries die you just park it and let them eventually charge and off you go again. These are little tractors of about 10 hp and do their job at a slow speed very nicely. I grudgingly admit there are applications for EV. Certain construction and farm equipment could be EV if there is a central charging station and battery swapping. Even the little EV training airplanes with battery swapping do OK.

Still, the electricity in substantial quantity has to come from somewhere. I looked at the possibility / practicality / technical feasibility of converting farm tractors of up to 100 hp to electric and using a solar array perched on top of the barn and swappable battry packs. For what I do it passes all hurdles but it would be very expensive.

Aside from cost, my greatest reservation is fire and damage. The charging / battery storage station would need to be remote and separate from the other buildings. Parking of tractors would need to be without the battery. The field life of a tractor with no suspension is rough and I can see the many connections in the battery packs and components being damaged from the jolts of the field. Even with a cab and air ride seat my guts and back take a beating in a day's work.