12 ms·

But seriously - The energy density of sunlight is around 1KW/m2 at sea level. So at 60% efficiency you get 600 watt - almost 1 horsepower (~750watt). That's

But seriously - The energy density of sunlight is around 1KW/m2 at sea level. So at 60% efficiency you get 600 watt - almost 1 horsepower (~750watt). That's enough to power a scooter, and with no batteries!

pipnasti 8y ago
Do you realize how big a square meter is?
petra 8y ago
Given that often, cars park outside most of the day, could they charge enough , enabling cars with much smaller batteries(for going to work for ex.) sold meaningfully cheaper - without needing creation of a charger network, which is a huge barrier?
- gregknicholson 8y ago
  If Sono Motors' Sion lives up to its description, it's approaching usable for commuting using only solar power. https://sonomotors.com/sion.html/#st-viSono https://sonomotors.com/sion.html/#st-viSono Edit: Ah, this car is mentioned in the article. Good!
  - SideburnsOfDoom 8y ago
    From that site: > This in turn means that up to 30 kilometers’ additional range can be generated per day in Germany through solar energy I suppose that 30km does cover a lot of commutes (15km each way), although "up to" is a notorious weasel word.
    - teraflop 8y ago
      Based on the numbers quoted on the site, 30 km of range is equivalent to what you'd get if all of the solar cells got 4 hours of direct illumination. On the one hand, they can't all be in direct sunlight at the same time, given the car's geometry. On the other hand, many locations get more than 4 sun-hours per day on a horizontal surface[1], especially in summer. So it doesn't seem too implausible. And if your commute is 30km per day, then even if you don't get enough sunlight to reliably charge the battery every day, you still have more than a week of buffer in your battery. [1]: https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/solar/solar_ghi_2018_usa_scale_01.jpg https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/solar/solar_ghi_2018_usa_sca...
- Brakenshire 8y ago
  I think you can buy panels as extras for existing cars, they provide a couple of miles a day under the best circumstances. If it was 10 miles under best circumstances and a couple if left anywhere outside, I could see them becoming mainstream.
- elihu 8y ago
  It could work, depending on your use case. For someone who only drives a couple miles a day and parks in the sun, they might need to charge less often or not at all. If you're going on long road trips, it probably wouldn't help much. In that sense, solar isn't particularly useful for extending range (which is why you'd want a large battery in the first place), but it might make a big difference when it comes to how often you have to plug in to a charger.

pipnasti 8y ago

Do you realize how big a square meter is?

petra 8y ago

Given that often, cars park outside most of the day, could they charge enough , enabling cars with much smaller batteries(for going to work for ex.) sold meaningfully cheaper - without needing creation of a charger network, which is a huge barrier?

gregknicholson 8y ago
If Sono Motors' Sion lives up to its description, it's approaching usable for commuting using only solar power. https://sonomotors.com/sion.html/#st-viSono https://sonomotors.com/sion.html/#st-viSono Edit: Ah, this car is mentioned in the article. Good!
- SideburnsOfDoom 8y ago
  From that site: > This in turn means that up to 30 kilometers’ additional range can be generated per day in Germany through solar energy I suppose that 30km does cover a lot of commutes (15km each way), although "up to" is a notorious weasel word.
  - teraflop 8y ago
    Based on the numbers quoted on the site, 30 km of range is equivalent to what you'd get if all of the solar cells got 4 hours of direct illumination. On the one hand, they can't all be in direct sunlight at the same time, given the car's geometry. On the other hand, many locations get more than 4 sun-hours per day on a horizontal surface[1], especially in summer. So it doesn't seem too implausible. And if your commute is 30km per day, then even if you don't get enough sunlight to reliably charge the battery every day, you still have more than a week of buffer in your battery. [1]: https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/solar/solar_ghi_2018_usa_scale_01.jpg https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/solar/solar_ghi_2018_usa_sca...
Brakenshire 8y ago
I think you can buy panels as extras for existing cars, they provide a couple of miles a day under the best circumstances. If it was 10 miles under best circumstances and a couple if left anywhere outside, I could see them becoming mainstream.
elihu 8y ago
It could work, depending on your use case. For someone who only drives a couple miles a day and parks in the sun, they might need to charge less often or not at all. If you're going on long road trips, it probably wouldn't help much. In that sense, solar isn't particularly useful for extending range (which is why you'd want a large battery in the first place), but it might make a big difference when it comes to how often you have to plug in to a charger.