You are correct. Solar panels on any kind of safe vehicle wouldn't even run the air conditioner. I was on a solar car team in undergrad. Every 2 years we buil

You are correct. Solar panels on any kind of safe vehicle wouldn't even run the air conditioner. I was on a solar car team in undergrad. Every 2 years we built a car with budget of about $1 million (and almost all of that went to consulting, parts or expert contract labor). We could afford space grade PV cells and fit as many as possible within the max 4.5 x 1.8 meter dimensions. We spent months refining the design to reduce drag and comfort was not a priority. This year's car can carry 1 (small) driver to 105 MPH (168 KM/H), but crusing speeds are about half that. On a sunny day we could maintain highway speeds without drawing much from the battery. http://solarcar.engin.umich.edu/thecar/ http://solarcar.engin.umich.edu/thecar/ The World Solar Challenge begins on October 6th in Australia where 26+ teams from the around the world will race their vehicles 3,000 km from Darwin to Adelaide. http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/ http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/