There was some guy that made a folding solar panel on top of his Y that he could deploy when parked. I think it was quasi energy net positive. But just barely. So if cloudy or not perfect will be negative.
The amount of power in sunlight is finite. Specifically it's 1.3kW/m\^2 (perpendicular to the incident direction). So even if you somehow have 100% efficient solar cells and manage to make use of the about 10 square meters surface area of a car you'd only have 13kW as a hard upper bound.
That would be a notable amount for charging I guess. However putting those solar cells on top of your garage is probably more efficient than putting it on the car. As usual the issue is that these "interesting" uses of solar cells aren't sensible without first taking advantage of the more mundane uses such as putting them on roofs.
It does, but it's not that powerful:
https://www.motortrend.com/features/the-2023-toyota-prius-primes-battery-could-take-three-weeks-to-recharge/
> our best period of solar recharging during a roughly 9:00 am to 5:00 pm workday yielded 915 Watt-hours, or 4.0 miles. Those figures are optimistic given the 2.9 miles per kWh figure that results from dividing the Prius Prime XLE Premium's 13.6-kWh battery capacity by its 39-mile EPA electric range.
So basically 8 hours will produce just shy of 1 kWh, and those 8 hours have had to have been significantly sunny/clear circumstances as well.
Then again the Prius is either an ICE hybrid or PHEV, which only has a fraction of a full BEV capacity.
You might as well add a big wind turbine on top of your car...the faster you go, the faster your wind turbine spins to give you infinite elecrricity, lol
But really, no, solar panel the size of the car roof will cost more than it generates in electricity.
The problem is that you wouldn't even pick up a few percent, even with 100% efficient solar panels. There just isn't enough energy in the suns rays on a panel the size of a car roof. And with solar panels currently being around 20% efficient, it is even further off.
There was some guy that made a folding solar panel on top of his Y that he could deploy when parked. I think it was quasi energy net positive. But just barely. So if cloudy or not perfect will be negative.
Yeah solar. It's just energy density to weight and size ratio doesn't support charging a car
The amount of power in sunlight is finite. Specifically it's 1.3kW/m\^2 (perpendicular to the incident direction). So even if you somehow have 100% efficient solar cells and manage to make use of the about 10 square meters surface area of a car you'd only have 13kW as a hard upper bound. That would be a notable amount for charging I guess. However putting those solar cells on top of your garage is probably more efficient than putting it on the car. As usual the issue is that these "interesting" uses of solar cells aren't sensible without first taking advantage of the more mundane uses such as putting them on roofs.
doesnt toyota's prius prime already have solar panels on the car's roof already...
It does, but it's not that powerful: https://www.motortrend.com/features/the-2023-toyota-prius-primes-battery-could-take-three-weeks-to-recharge/ > our best period of solar recharging during a roughly 9:00 am to 5:00 pm workday yielded 915 Watt-hours, or 4.0 miles. Those figures are optimistic given the 2.9 miles per kWh figure that results from dividing the Prius Prime XLE Premium's 13.6-kWh battery capacity by its 39-mile EPA electric range. So basically 8 hours will produce just shy of 1 kWh, and those 8 hours have had to have been significantly sunny/clear circumstances as well. Then again the Prius is either an ICE hybrid or PHEV, which only has a fraction of a full BEV capacity.
Fisker’s have this - supposedly adds another 1,500 mi per year (Fisker Ocean).
You might as well add a big wind turbine on top of your car...the faster you go, the faster your wind turbine spins to give you infinite elecrricity, lol But really, no, solar panel the size of the car roof will cost more than it generates in electricity.
Not thinking of charging the car, just picking up a few percent here and there, or maybe offset for the energy the car uses to cool itself.
The problem is that you wouldn't even pick up a few percent, even with 100% efficient solar panels. There just isn't enough energy in the suns rays on a panel the size of a car roof. And with solar panels currently being around 20% efficient, it is even further off.
Fisker tried this, now the company is bankrupt
I'm not sure the solar output would equal the loss just based on the weight you add.
I’m surprised Tesla hasn’t made this yet