5 ms·

I call BS. Any solar cell mounted on a roof of a car is going to be much more expensive and less efficient than a cell that can be mounted on a roof of a house

I call BS. Any solar cell mounted on a roof of a car is going to be much more expensive and less efficient than a cell that can be mounted on a roof of a house. Want to put a solar cell? Why not put it on your house instead? You can put as much of the cell as you can without the downsides of having it on your car. It will work for you even when you have your car parked in a garage. With inclined roof the cell is going to be much more efficient than a car roof cell that has to be level. Has anyone thought about parking the car in shade or garages? Now you have to park in a sunny place for a small increase in efficiency. Here in eastern/northern Europe, the maximum values are normally unattainable throughout the year (at least here in Europe). And no, the solar on a car is not going to prevent you from having to charge it, you still need to charge it, just a little less so it will not eliminate you having to have some place to charge it and fiddling with cables and chargers.

Tade0 6y ago
I see one use case: leaving the car for extended periods of time unplugged, say at an airport parking lot. Last year I had to leave my car unused for three months, after which both the 12V battery and the hybrid battery were completely discharged. Had there been a solar panel on the roof this wouldn't be an issue. Nowadays most of the cost of solar is installation, so I don't think such a panel would be very expensive. The 860W panel on the Prius Plug-In is a €2000 option, so it's around twice the price of a rooftop installation, but they're using 34% efficient, monocrystalline cells, so most of the expense comes from that.
- eldaisfish 6y ago
  > I see one use case: leaving the car for extended periods of time unplugged, say at an airport parking lot. You're making a big assumption there - that the parking lot is open to the sky which many airport parking lots are not.
  - Tade0 6y ago
    My experience is that most airports use the roof of the parking lot as well, so there's definitely at least one floor's worth of uncovered space. I don't know of any airport that has 100% covered/underground parking spaces.
  - srg0 6y ago
    > You're making a big assumption there - that the parking lot is open to the sky which many airport parking lots are not. Usually there are many parking lots open to the sky, and they even cost less.
crucio 6y ago
You seem to think everyone lives the same life as you. Many people don't have a roof, or don't have permission to put solar on them. Many people drive very little per day on average, for them in makes absolute sense to have a vehicle which will trickle charge directly from the sun and cover most (if not all) their driving. This car obviously isn't for you if you have a suitable roof and driveway, and drive many miles at one time.
- lmilcin 6y ago
  If you care for your can you will not want to leave it in open sun for extended periods, especially when you live in lower latitudes where this car would have more sense. Stuff deteriorates in open sun and high temperature and this applies to batteries. If you are cash strappend and own an EV then the batteries are going to be your focus as keeping them alive for as long as possible is going to largely determine your cost of owning the car. All people I know that can't put their car in a garage will try to find shade. And that's in Poland where sun is never directly above.
  - steego 6y ago
    > If you care for your can you will not want to leave it in open sun for extended periods, especially when you live in lower latitudes where this car would have more sense. I purchased a car last year and have yet to put on 3,000 miles this year since I started working from home. (And I took a day trip with it). I live in an apartment with a garage, but I use it for storage and don't mind parking my car outside. (I don't care about leaving my car in the sun and I live in a Southern state where it gets hot) I'd consider buying something like this if it was a little more mature (Maybe in a future/cheaper Tesla model) simply because I love the idea of leaving my car out so it can stay charged. We don't all think like you and your neighbors.
    - lmilcin 6y ago
      Couple of potential users does not yet form a valid business case. Cars are expensive to develop. If you want to offer an affordable car you must have a lot of potential customers.

Tade0 6y ago

I see one use case: leaving the car for extended periods of time unplugged, say at an airport parking lot. Last year I had to leave my car unused for three months, after which both the 12V battery and the hybrid battery were completely discharged. Had there been a solar panel on the roof this wouldn't be an issue. Nowadays most of the cost of solar is installation, so I don't think such a panel would be very expensive. The 860W panel on the Prius Plug-In is a €2000 option, so it's around twice the price of a rooftop installation, but they're using 34% efficient, monocrystalline cells, so most of the expense comes from that.

eldaisfish 6y ago
> I see one use case: leaving the car for extended periods of time unplugged, say at an airport parking lot. You're making a big assumption there - that the parking lot is open to the sky which many airport parking lots are not.
- Tade0 6y ago
  My experience is that most airports use the roof of the parking lot as well, so there's definitely at least one floor's worth of uncovered space. I don't know of any airport that has 100% covered/underground parking spaces.
- srg0 6y ago
  > You're making a big assumption there - that the parking lot is open to the sky which many airport parking lots are not. Usually there are many parking lots open to the sky, and they even cost less.

crucio 6y ago

You seem to think everyone lives the same life as you. Many people don't have a roof, or don't have permission to put solar on them. Many people drive very little per day on average, for them in makes absolute sense to have a vehicle which will trickle charge directly from the sun and cover most (if not all) their driving. This car obviously isn't for you if you have a suitable roof and driveway, and drive many miles at one time.

lmilcin 6y ago
If you care for your can you will not want to leave it in open sun for extended periods, especially when you live in lower latitudes where this car would have more sense. Stuff deteriorates in open sun and high temperature and this applies to batteries. If you are cash strappend and own an EV then the batteries are going to be your focus as keeping them alive for as long as possible is going to largely determine your cost of owning the car. All people I know that can't put their car in a garage will try to find shade. And that's in Poland where sun is never directly above.
- steego 6y ago
  > If you care for your can you will not want to leave it in open sun for extended periods, especially when you live in lower latitudes where this car would have more sense. I purchased a car last year and have yet to put on 3,000 miles this year since I started working from home. (And I took a day trip with it). I live in an apartment with a garage, but I use it for storage and don't mind parking my car outside. (I don't care about leaving my car in the sun and I live in a Southern state where it gets hot) I'd consider buying something like this if it was a little more mature (Maybe in a future/cheaper Tesla model) simply because I love the idea of leaving my car out so it can stay charged. We don't all think like you and your neighbors.
  - lmilcin 6y ago
    Couple of potential users does not yet form a valid business case. Cars are expensive to develop. If you want to offer an affordable car you must have a lot of potential customers.