|
So I have two non-plug-in hybrids. What would it cost to make them plug-in-able?
What would it cost to trade them in for a plug-in-hybrid?
What would it cost to put a solar panel on the roof of one of them?
What kind of options could there be for adding a solar panel or panels?
What would be the pros and cons of each option?
When I had the Leaf I was driving way farther than what the car was intended to be used for, and quite regularly. I'd do a 150 mile round trip twice, sometimes three times a week in that 24kWh Leaf, with only one 6kW charging area to charge at along the whole route. I also took the Leaf on trips sometimes 700 miles long, with a lot of 120V charging.
I figured it would be easier if I had some sort of 6-7kW generator to take along, but if it ran on fosil fuel that would kind of be defeating the purpose of the vehicle. So I did the math to see if solar could be feasible, and in my opinion, it definitely could.
I had a couple ideas in mind. One, to get a bunch of PV panels and throw them in the trunk, then set them up whenever I needed to. Yes I'd need to use up the whole trunk space and likely the rear seat area as well. But since PV panels are usually quite thin, getting some 7kW worth in the car is possible. Looking to do it DIY costs could possibly be as low as $5,000, not that different than a gasoline powered 7kW generator.
Of course setting up a bajillion little panels didn't seem very convenient. So I thought about doing a trailer. However I figured I'd need an 8' x 40' trailer to get close to 6kW. It would also have to be able to tilt to get the full use of the sun.
So with that, I thought that it might be better to make a trailer with folding or sliding panels. That way the trailer could be made much smaller. For an example, a 6' x 18' trailer with three pieces would have the same square footage as the 8' x 40' trailer.
But towing a trailer wouldn't be convenient for everyday use. So what about above the car? The Leaf is nearly 6' wide and around 14' 6" long. Add a 3.5ft boat tail and the car would be 18' long. Of course adding any sort of object above the Leaf would hurt aerodynamics, so I thought maybe the PV array could be made as aerodynamic as possible. Maybe have it sit a couple feet off the top of the car for tilting purposes and make it curved following the contour you see in a wind tunnel. Of course the higher it sits the flatter it could be made and still be aerodynamic.
So the idea was a DIY solar array made of three very large panels that could slide out from each other making one big 18' x 18' panel when sitting. The hard part would be making it strong enough to keep from breaking off while driving down the road at highway speeds in the wind. There would definitely be other pros and cons too, like having shade all summer long and protection from frost in the winter. Also being able to run the AC off of pure solar power anywhere you go. But all in all, the fact that being able to carry around a Level 2 solar charging system is technically possible is pretty cool.
Well, I no longer have the Leaf and do doubt I'd ever go as far as to put an extendable 18' x 18' solar array on top of my car. But I do often wonder if doing around a 2kW raised solar panel that's the width and length of the car would have any benefit on one or both of my non-plug-in hybrids especially for slow paced, around town driving.
__________________
|