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I would never expect a car company to sell a solution that looks like this, but integrated into the vehicles body you can remove all the drawbacks but weight (a

by gpm 3y ago

I would never expect a car company to sell a solution that looks like this, but integrated into the vehicles body you can remove all the drawbacks but weight (and optimize weight a lot more than the DIY solution can). See what Aptera is doing...

Ekaros 3y ago
I think this picture makes it pretty clear why integrating solar panels in cars don't make too much sense. If this installation is 4kW and you compare the surface area to one available on the body of the car it comes clear that cost or implementation likely won't recoup investment. Both monetarily and in resource input.
- gpm 3y ago
  In terms of dollars you should obviously expect more return by putting the same solar panels on a roof instead of a car - they generate the same energy and you aren't adding mass to an object you repeatedly accelerate. But then you have to charge your car. The win here is convenience. If you average more charge per day than you average driving (and you have a large enough battery to load balance) you practically never have to charge (ignoring outliers like long road trips).
- masklinn 3y ago
  > If this installation is 4kW It's 2kW.
Throw84949 3y ago
Net effect is negative even without weight! Tesla are 2 tons monsters that charge at 100 000 Watts. 100 Watts produced by integrated panels like this, are most likely not even enough to power up battery controller! If you charge Tesla from normal house plug in cold, 2KW are not enough to heat up battery pack. So car has to use energy from batteries for heating! So "charging" will actually reduce energy! Small solar panels are great for fixing parasitic battery drain on vehicles though!
- gpm 3y ago
  If your argument is "the article is just flat out lying" I don't think we have a set of shared beliefs by which we can have an interesting conversation.
  - Throw84949 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - gpm 3y ago
      Yes you quoted numbers. You quoted numbers that are hard to screw up and directly contradicted by the article (as to the watts per solar panel). A new throwaway account coming to the comments and claiming the article is making up easily verifiable information isn't worth anything - especially when they appear to be pulling numbers from nowhere. Doubly especially when I'm pretty sure solar panels of that size are in fact more than 100W.
      - Throw84949 3y ago
        Your post was about solar panels INTEGRATED into cars roof. 100W is about what you can reliably pull from non-angled panel of that size on camper van. Sometimes it is more, usually far less. There is no way it can give 600 Watts to even START charging! Article is irrelevant here (different panels). Also it is a total garbage, and a good way to kill someone. Tesla S roof is certified for 165 pounds load, so it won't be even covered by insurance! As for throwaway account, I am tired of death threats!
        the_third_wave 3y ago
        > As for throwaway account, I am tired of death threats! Death treats? I never use a throwaway account so I have had to create a few new accounts after having been shadowbanned. I'm used to getting voted down when I go against the narrative. I have never ever seen anything resembling a death threat here. Never. What does such a 'death threat' even look like?

by gpm 3y ago

Ekaros 3y ago

I think this picture makes it pretty clear why integrating solar panels in cars don't make too much sense. If this installation is 4kW and you compare the surface area to one available on the body of the car it comes clear that cost or implementation likely won't recoup investment. Both monetarily and in resource input.

gpm 3y ago
In terms of dollars you should obviously expect more return by putting the same solar panels on a roof instead of a car - they generate the same energy and you aren't adding mass to an object you repeatedly accelerate. But then you have to charge your car. The win here is convenience. If you average more charge per day than you average driving (and you have a large enough battery to load balance) you practically never have to charge (ignoring outliers like long road trips).
masklinn 3y ago
> If this installation is 4kW It's 2kW.

Throw84949 3y ago

Net effect is negative even without weight! Tesla are 2 tons monsters that charge at 100 000 Watts. 100 Watts produced by integrated panels like this, are most likely not even enough to power up battery controller! If you charge Tesla from normal house plug in cold, 2KW are not enough to heat up battery pack. So car has to use energy from batteries for heating! So "charging" will actually reduce energy! Small solar panels are great for fixing parasitic battery drain on vehicles though!

gpm 3y ago
If your argument is "the article is just flat out lying" I don't think we have a set of shared beliefs by which we can have an interesting conversation.
- Throw84949 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - gpm 3y ago
    Yes you quoted numbers. You quoted numbers that are hard to screw up and directly contradicted by the article (as to the watts per solar panel). A new throwaway account coming to the comments and claiming the article is making up easily verifiable information isn't worth anything - especially when they appear to be pulling numbers from nowhere. Doubly especially when I'm pretty sure solar panels of that size are in fact more than 100W.
    - Throw84949 3y ago
      Your post was about solar panels INTEGRATED into cars roof. 100W is about what you can reliably pull from non-angled panel of that size on camper van. Sometimes it is more, usually far less. There is no way it can give 600 Watts to even START charging! Article is irrelevant here (different panels). Also it is a total garbage, and a good way to kill someone. Tesla S roof is certified for 165 pounds load, so it won't be even covered by insurance! As for throwaway account, I am tired of death threats!
      - the_third_wave 3y ago
        > As for throwaway account, I am tired of death threats! Death treats? I never use a throwaway account so I have had to create a few new accounts after having been shadowbanned. I'm used to getting voted down when I go against the narrative. I have never ever seen anything resembling a death threat here. Never. What does such a 'death threat' even look like?