[oil pan 4]

I already destroyed the idea of putting solar panels on a vehicle and no one for it has given a y good reason for putting solar panels on a car other than virtue signaling.

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

At least I'm intelligent enough to give a reason why it's stupid.
I'll give more reasons why putting solar panels on a car is totally idiotic, wasteful and not the least bit good or helpful to the environment.
I will channel my inner aerohead for this.
1 solar panels develop lower voltages, stepping up tens of volts to the hundreds of volts required to charge a EV battery will create huge losses.
2 any attempts to use more smaller cells in series to get a higher voltage means more connections, a more fragile setup easier to break, impossible to repair, even more expensive.
3 any attempts to make the panels bigger means not all of the cells will get sun, one blocked cell can cut panel power output in half.
4 anyone who lives in a sunny area where solar panels would be most effective is trying to park in the shade, such as my self. Hmm would I rather get in a 100'F car or a 170'F car?
5 easily damaged by hail and non repairable, just take the whole roof panel, hood, trunk lid what ever is covered with solar cells, chuck it in the trash and replace with a new one.
6, waste of resources, will cost thousands of dollars, maybe generate hundreds of dollars worth of power in its life time.
Waste of valuable resource, solar panels laying flat like in a car roof will run at about 2/3 of peak power compared to being angled towards the sun.
7, stupid wasteful application. The average vehicle in the US lasts 11 years, a typical roof top solar panel will last 25 to 30 years. Only an idiot would use a solar panel for half it's life then crush it and throw it away.
8 only people from new England or the Pacific nw who barely see the sun will think this is a good idea as they have no clue what high production solar intensity looks like.