Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
I guess we know something auto manufacturers don't, because there are practically no cars that offer meaningful range-adding PV
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There aren't many pickup truck manufacturers that offer pickups with flat beds and grill guards either. Maybe those don't offer any meaningful purpose to those who put them on their trucks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by S Keith
I've been working with solar power systems putting one together for our off-grid property, and I've run some numbers.
Basis: 7.6kWh for a Ford Fusion Energi PHEV yields 20 mile range.
That's about 3 miles/kWh.
Panels flat on a roof or hood kinda suck for solar harvest unless you're in lower latitudes.
For summer, 5 hours of insolation is reasonable, winter 1.5.
In summer, 100W would get you 500Wh or about 1.5 miles of driving per day.
In winter, 100W would get you 150Wh or about 0.45 miles of driving per day.
This assumes the solar panels are exposed to the sun from sunrise to sunset.
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So every "100W" of PV power will save a guy about $15 of fuel a year (at $3/gal) in a 2nd Gen Prius in a place that's 75% sunny during that same year (assuming the cloudy days are spread evenly throughout the whole year). If you shop around you can get 100W for $20. So it would take a bit over a year to break even.
Of course the problem for the DIY would be to get the voltage high enough, a way to control the charge and a way to mount them on the car.
There are way too many options here to just say it's impossible. Nobody has said that the panels have to be flat. Why couldn't they be made to tilt? They don't even have to be fixed to the top of the vehicle, they could be stuck inside the trunk while moving. Depending on the size and position of the PV panels they could also be the shade for the vehicle. Maybe make them stick out over the front and rear windows. One 100W panel in front and another 100W panel in back could make up to some 1000kWh, about what can be absorbed by a traditional NiMH hybrid battery. A bigger panel could be made that would provide more shade over the car and keep the AC running if you're the kind of person that ends up waiting a lot in his/her vehicle. Maybe link some 25 100W panels in series mounted in a canopy over the vehicle and have them connect to the HV system only when you're in the vehicle so you can run the AC off them in stop and go traffic. The possibilities and configurations are endless.