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Neither cost nor plausibility are the key criticisms here. The key criticism is about usefulness. If you want useful solar output in cities and don't have space
by eldaisfish 6y ago
Neither cost nor plausibility are the key criticisms here. The key criticism is about usefulness. If you want useful solar output in cities and don't have space or desire for rooftop panels, a better starting spot is the roofs of bus shelters or even the buses themselves. Both are large enough to generate useful solar output and are already higher than the majority of cars.
Also, what are "average" conditions? The website doesn't say. Stockholm or the Bay Area? This car will work much better in one of those places while in the other, PV panels on a car's roof are a gimmick. A relatively inexpensive and barely useful gimmick but still a gimmick.
Are you certain your panel costs are that low? Even NREL's estimates [1] put them much higher. Assuming that panel cost is roughly 30% of the US$ 2/W figure, that's still double what you're quoting and that's assuming cheap, mass-produced PV panels which the ones on this car most certainly are not.
[1]https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy19osti/72399.pdf https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy19osti/72399.pdf
- ben_w 6y agoSee page 12 of your link. Most of the cost in grid connected PV isn’t the cells; stuff like installation (e.g. safety while working at heights) is famously expensive. See pages 18-19 for their estimates.
- eldaisfish 6y agothat's precisely my point. Even if most of the $2/W cost of commercial PV isn't the cell cost, the cells still cost around US$ 0.4 - 0.6 each and this is for mass produced cells. Is it fair to claim that a speciality cell such as those on this car can be had for even cheaper? Unlikely.
- ben_w 6y agoI’m not sure what you’re arguing against given I claimed $.30/W and the document you linked me to also claims $.30/W cells.
- eldaisfish 6y agoFor posterity, NREL's number is $ 0.47 / W for utility scale solar. It's not $ 0.30 /W and there's no way a speciality cell is cheaper than utility scale cells.
- ben_w 6y agoPage 12, Figure 9. Ex-factory gate prices (spot prices) for U.S. and global multicrystalline-silicon modules from GTM/SEIA (2018) data $0.30/W global multicrystalline-silicon spot price.
- asoneth 6y ago> a better starting spot is the roofs of bus shelters or even the buses themselves I agree that buses and bus shelters are a good opportunity for solar, but this is a strange comparison. First, if the panels really are as cheap as they claim (though I am skeptical) then wouldn't it make sense to do both? Why does it have to be either/or? Second, I don't think anyone who is deciding whether to spring for the "solar" option on their electric car is weighing that against putting solar on their bus or bus shelter.