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Those solar panels are mounted in a way to get the worst possible efficiency (aside making them facing down). I'm very skeptical of the outcome, or maybe they'r

Those solar panels are mounted in a way to get the worst possible efficiency (aside making them facing down). I'm very skeptical of the outcome, or maybe they're incredibly oversized for the task so that even a couple of them getting a fraction of the sunlight can make the vehicle work. If he mounted them on the roof they would work a lot better by taking more direct sunlight, and he would save a lot of money by using just one or two for the same performance. Kudos to the kid for actively making stuff though; most of his western peers would waste all day tapping on a phone while he is using his brain to solve problems.

whydoineedthis 5y ago
Don't you think he has them on the roof as well? While not optimal, he will get some power no matter what direction he's facing, and that may be enough for the small task. Sri Lanka is ridiculously sunny.
- conductr 5y ago
  Along these lines, he may also have a very small daily range and thus below optimal charging conditional could meet his needs
- squarefoot 5y ago
  > Don't you think he has them on the roof as well? He doesn't, and you replied without even watching the video. He has the usual tent on the roof, which would have been the best spot to mount the panels. Had the kid been some some western youtuber, those who downvoted me would be in line to write my same exact post. Please be honest with yourselves and others.
  - Alan_Dillman 5y ago
    I think you could bear another watch yourself, and a little less negativity. The rear side panels are hinged on top, so they can be raised to the sun while the tuk is stationary. As well, in the back, on the roof is clearly another panel. You can see the lack of translucency at about 0:07, and his hand on the rear frame at 1:14. Actually you can see it a bit better at 0:04. Further, its entirely possible that he has an extra vehicular set of panels at home base. He probably parks it with the doors open, facing the rising sun, catching some charge before the horizontal panels become directly illuminated.
    - squarefoot 5y ago
      I take as you point out as good because for some unknown reasons I can't watch the video at the moment, it just returns the grey BBC background in the video frame and nothing loads (Firefox 78.12 and disabled all adblockers and similar addons). Anyway I didn't mean to bash in any way the kid and his accomplishment, which is great especially if compared to most of his western peers with much more money and tools at disposal.
imtringued 5y ago
The cost of used solar panels is unbelievably low.
hemapani 5y ago
Sri lanka has lot of sun, so effect of angle may be less
- squarefoot 5y ago
  That is true, but carrying people around requires a lot of power, nothing that panels put that way can offer. He probably can gain a few minutes of driving by recharging his batteries in several hours of sun on one side (unfortunately making all panels pointed to other directions useless) but I am 100% sure that thing cannot carry people around just with solar power, especially with panels mounted that way. There's not enough data to call it a fake, but surely there's enough data to tell it's not optimal. As i wrote in another reply: had this kid been a western youtuber, those who are downvoting me would be in line to write my exact words. To make it even more clear: correcting a technical error does not mean I'm bashing the kid who committed it, and correcting a kid of a certain country doesn't mean I'm bashing that country.
  - trhway 5y ago
    >carrying people around requires a lot of power, nothing that panels put that way can offer. humans produce 100-200w (top cyclists can do 700-800w for 1 minute), that is 0.5-1 m2 of modern solar panels under Sri Lanka sun.
    - andi999 5y ago
      But human cyclist don't speed off like a tuk tuk with passengers in it.
  - TaylorAlexander 5y ago
    I think the issue is that the vehicle has no more surface area for panels. It couldn't extend them out further as that would make the vehicle more likely to collide with others. It looks like the roof and sides are covered. I'm building a four wheel drive solar powered farming robot. We use four 800w panels, but on level ground it draws 40 watts at walking speed. I've heard there can be issues if one solar panel is in the shade and others are in the sun, but maybe that can be fixed with proper wiring. Anyway a few panels around the vehicle if properly wired could provide a real boost to the vehicle, even if its not gonna power it up hills for long. The really cool thing about solar vehicles is that in the daytime they are always ready to go. At least that's how our farm robot works. (link in my profile)
harikb 5y ago
Flat roof panels are visible in 00:05 through 00:08. I think he used panels are door because they are available cheap. Typical Tuktuks have a curved cloth/plastic material as roof

whydoineedthis 5y ago

Don't you think he has them on the roof as well? While not optimal, he will get some power no matter what direction he's facing, and that may be enough for the small task. Sri Lanka is ridiculously sunny.

conductr 5y ago
Along these lines, he may also have a very small daily range and thus below optimal charging conditional could meet his needs
squarefoot 5y ago
> Don't you think he has them on the roof as well? He doesn't, and you replied without even watching the video. He has the usual tent on the roof, which would have been the best spot to mount the panels. Had the kid been some some western youtuber, those who downvoted me would be in line to write my same exact post. Please be honest with yourselves and others.
- Alan_Dillman 5y ago
  I think you could bear another watch yourself, and a little less negativity. The rear side panels are hinged on top, so they can be raised to the sun while the tuk is stationary. As well, in the back, on the roof is clearly another panel. You can see the lack of translucency at about 0:07, and his hand on the rear frame at 1:14. Actually you can see it a bit better at 0:04. Further, its entirely possible that he has an extra vehicular set of panels at home base. He probably parks it with the doors open, facing the rising sun, catching some charge before the horizontal panels become directly illuminated.
  - squarefoot 5y ago
    I take as you point out as good because for some unknown reasons I can't watch the video at the moment, it just returns the grey BBC background in the video frame and nothing loads (Firefox 78.12 and disabled all adblockers and similar addons). Anyway I didn't mean to bash in any way the kid and his accomplishment, which is great especially if compared to most of his western peers with much more money and tools at disposal.

imtringued 5y ago

The cost of used solar panels is unbelievably low.

hemapani 5y ago

Sri lanka has lot of sun, so effect of angle may be less

squarefoot 5y ago
That is true, but carrying people around requires a lot of power, nothing that panels put that way can offer. He probably can gain a few minutes of driving by recharging his batteries in several hours of sun on one side (unfortunately making all panels pointed to other directions useless) but I am 100% sure that thing cannot carry people around just with solar power, especially with panels mounted that way. There's not enough data to call it a fake, but surely there's enough data to tell it's not optimal. As i wrote in another reply: had this kid been a western youtuber, those who are downvoting me would be in line to write my exact words. To make it even more clear: correcting a technical error does not mean I'm bashing the kid who committed it, and correcting a kid of a certain country doesn't mean I'm bashing that country.
- trhway 5y ago
  >carrying people around requires a lot of power, nothing that panels put that way can offer. humans produce 100-200w (top cyclists can do 700-800w for 1 minute), that is 0.5-1 m2 of modern solar panels under Sri Lanka sun.
  - andi999 5y ago
    But human cyclist don't speed off like a tuk tuk with passengers in it.
- TaylorAlexander 5y ago
  I think the issue is that the vehicle has no more surface area for panels. It couldn't extend them out further as that would make the vehicle more likely to collide with others. It looks like the roof and sides are covered. I'm building a four wheel drive solar powered farming robot. We use four 800w panels, but on level ground it draws 40 watts at walking speed. I've heard there can be issues if one solar panel is in the shade and others are in the sun, but maybe that can be fixed with proper wiring. Anyway a few panels around the vehicle if properly wired could provide a real boost to the vehicle, even if its not gonna power it up hills for long. The really cool thing about solar vehicles is that in the daytime they are always ready to go. At least that's how our farm robot works. (link in my profile)

harikb 5y ago

Flat roof panels are visible in 00:05 through 00:08. I think he used panels are door because they are available cheap. Typical Tuktuks have a curved cloth/plastic material as roof