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Electric cars don't have enough area for solar power, and planes have even less.
by tinco 5y ago
Electric cars don't have enough area for solar power, and planes have even less.
- moffkalast 5y agoWell any area is enough area for solar power, you just don't get much out of it. I think for a car I remember some calculation at some point was that if you covered the whole thing in panels and let it soak in the sun for a day you'd get a few miles of driving out of it. Having more efficient cells would give you a few more miles I presume. Not too useful for the everyday user, but if you're doing an off grid trip it would be very useful if you camp somewhere and let your car charge for a few days. I guess might as well roll out some proper panels in that case though. Planes do have a reasonably large wing surface area that could be panelled up if they're not too heavy (you can make quite large RC planes fly perpetually in the sun even with regular monocrystalline panels) so there would definitely be some fuel savings from it if you had like a hydrogen powered jet that already uses electric propulsion.
- wrycoder 5y agoThey have races with highly aerodynamic, low friction "cars" covered with solar cells. It's fun, not practical.