Electric cars and solar power

[longview]

I saw something about the Chevy bolt, and though it would be an interesting exercise
to see how much energy solar panels could add to a car from a day in a parking lot/
The Chevy bolt claims it's 60Kwh Battery has a range of 238 miles.
This works out to .25 Kwh per mile.
The Bolt is 177 inches long and 70 inches wide.
A 330 Watt solar panel is about 39 inches wide and 69 inches long,
so the area of the car could hold 4 panels.
Flat panels get about 6 hours of good sun per day, and about 50% power for the outside peak times.
For an 8 hour sunny work day that would work out to roughly 9.2 Kwh,
or about 36 miles of range.
Because a car used only to go back and forth to work is low duty cycle,
it may be possible for a person with an under 15 mile drive to have most of the energy used
in the drive covered by the sunshine in the parking lot.

 

[Media_Truth]

I saw something about the Chevy bolt, and though it would be an interesting exercise
to see how much energy solar panels could add to a car from a day in a parking lot/
The Chevy bolt claims it's 60Kwh Battery has a range of 238 miles.
This works out to .25 Kwh per mile.
The Bolt is 177 inches long and 70 inches wide.
A 330 Watt solar panel is about 39 inches wide and 69 inches long,
so the area of the car could hold 4 panels.
Flat panels get about 6 hours of good sun per day, and about 50% power for the outside peak times.
For an 8 hour sunny work day that would work out to roughly 9.2 Kwh,
or about 36 miles of range.
Because a car used only to go back and forth to work is low duty cycle,
it may be possible for a person with an under 15 mile drive to have most of the energy used
in the drive covered by the sunshine in the parking lot.

In theory, I would think that's correct. They run a 100% solar-powered cross-country race every year. Looks like University of Michigan rocks...

U-M wins national solar car competition

 

[Deuce]

Actual results will be lower, of course, but solar panels on cars certainly could supplement battery power.

However, I think a more efficient implementation is to put those panels at the parking structures/lots themselves. This allows for optimal installation, both in position and angle. That 50% power figure only works if the panel is angled south correctly, something not possible on the roof of a car. A lot of power is lost if the panel is flat, or angled away from the sun as some part of the car will be.

On the flipside, a panel on the car means that power is available any time the car is outside, not just at parking structures with installed panels. A little trickle power could supplement during driving.

I haven't done any math on it, obviously, but expect that the fixed installation is more efficient per square foot of solar panel.

 

[KevinKohler]

I saw something about the Chevy bolt, and though it would be an interesting exercise
to see how much energy solar panels could add to a car from a day in a parking lot/
The Chevy bolt claims it's 60Kwh Battery has a range of 238 miles.
This works out to .25 Kwh per mile.
The Bolt is 177 inches long and 70 inches wide.
A 330 Watt solar panel is about 39 inches wide and 69 inches long,
so the area of the car could hold 4 panels.
Flat panels get about 6 hours of good sun per day, and about 50% power for the outside peak times.
For an 8 hour sunny work day that would work out to roughly 9.2 Kwh,
or about 36 miles of range.
Because a car used only to go back and forth to work is low duty cycle,
it may be possible for a person with an under 15 mile drive to have most of the energy used
in the drive covered by the sunshine in the parking lot.

I'm holding out for some clever fella to integrate solar gathering into paint.


No more panels.

 

[longview]

I'm holding out for some clever fella to integrate solar gathering into paint.


No more panels.

I was thinking more about the gathering capability of the physical area.
Would the area of the car be sufficient to actually provide a decent range charge
over a work day in a parking lot.
Since the panels have dimensions and power outputs, it is just a ball park figure,
but it does sound possible, for a 15 mile of so commute distance.

 

[Media_Truth]

I'm holding out for some clever fella to integrate solar gathering into paint.


No more panels.

I'm not sure you'll ever see a paint that accomplishes this, but I could be wrong. There has to be some type of wiring collection system for the electrical current. The solaire building, which really isn't that new, is a NYC commercial building that incorporated solar panels into the architectural scheme.



http://thesolaire.com/tour/

 

[longview]

Actual results will be lower, of course, but solar panels on cars certainly could supplement battery power.

However, I think a more efficient implementation is to put those panels at the parking structures/lots themselves. This allows for optimal installation, both in position and angle. That 50% power figure only works if the panel is angled south correctly, something not possible on the roof of a car. A lot of power is lost if the panel is flat, or angled away from the sun as some part of the car will be.

On the flipside, a panel on the car means that power is available any time the car is outside, not just at parking structures with installed panels. A little trickle power could supplement during driving.

I haven't done any math on it, obviously, but expect that the fixed installation is more efficient per square foot of solar panel.

The exercise was for the panels to be on the car,
The tilt angle or lack thereof, would likely drop the power out by 20%.
I do not think it would help much for driving as the panels would only add about 4 miles of range fro each hour in full sun.
Electric cars can have quite different dynamics than car powered by heat engines, so may be able to get by on much lower horsepower.

 

[MrWonka]

it may be possible for a person with an under 15 mile drive to have most of the energy used
in the drive covered by the sunshine in the parking lot.

Yeah, now just imagine what might be possible in ten years if we made even heavier investments in solar technology and batter life.

 

[longview]

I'm not sure you'll ever see a paint that accomplishes this, but I could be wrong. There has to be some type of wiring collection system for the electrical current. The solaire building, which really isn't that new, is a NYC commercial building that incorporated solar panels into the architectural scheme.

View attachment 67221404

Property Overview

I am not willing to exclude much, people can be very clever.
Printable solar panels have been in the works for a while.
https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/02/printable-solar-panels-horizon
If it is printable, it could be incorporated onto the body, and covered with a clear coat.
Edit,
after a bit of looking, someone is already working on the idea.
https://www.treehugger.com/cars/crowdfunded-electric-car-integrates-solar-panels-self-charging.html

 

[jimbo]

I'm holding out for some clever fella to integrate solar gathering into paint.


No more panels.

I think that will someday happen. Paint certainly gathers solar energy.

 

[Media_Truth]

I am not willing to exclude much, people can be very clever.
Printable solar panels have been in the works for a while.
https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/02/printable-solar-panels-horizon
If it is printable, it could be incorporated onto the body, and covered with a clear coat.
Edit,
after a bit of looking, someone is already working on the idea.
https://www.treehugger.com/cars/crowdfunded-electric-car-integrates-solar-panels-self-charging.html

That Sion is so cool! I'll buy one, when they're available in the US.

 

[longview]

That Sion is so cool! I'll buy one, when they're available in the US.

The battery hire thing seems a bit sketchy, The batteries are the expensive thing.
I built an electric bicycle a few months ago, and the batteries make up about 70% of the price of the total kit.

 

[Lord of Planar]

I saw something about the Chevy bolt, and though it would be an interesting exercise
to see how much energy solar panels could add to a car from a day in a parking lot/
The Chevy bolt claims it's 60Kwh Battery has a range of 238 miles.
This works out to .25 Kwh per mile.
The Bolt is 177 inches long and 70 inches wide.
A 330 Watt solar panel is about 39 inches wide and 69 inches long,
so the area of the car could hold 4 panels.
Flat panels get about 6 hours of good sun per day, and about 50% power for the outside peak times.
For an 8 hour sunny work day that would work out to roughly 9.2 Kwh,
or about 36 miles of range.
Because a car used only to go back and forth to work is low duty cycle,
it may be possible for a person with an under 15 mile drive to have most of the energy used
in the drive covered by the sunshine in the parking lot.

Actually, they only claim a 35 to 53 mile range on battery depending on what year it is. Remember, it's a hybrid, and the range includes burning gasoline.

 

[longview]

Actually, they only claim a 35 to 53 mile range on battery depending on what year it is. Remember, it's a hybrid, and the range includes burning gasoline.

This is the Bolt not the Volt, I think it is all electric.

 

[Lord of Planar]

This is the Bolt not the Volt, I think it is all electric.

I stand corrected.

The thing with the solar panels, is they are rated being perpendicular to the sun on a clear day. Just having that large of an attached panel would ruin the milage due to wind resistance. If you incorporate them into the aerodynamics of a car, the percentage of a spot will be relative to the sin of the angle. A 60 degree angle for example will give you 86.6% of the power on a clear day. Cloudy conditions are different yet.

 

[longview]

I stand corrected.

The thing with the solar panels, is they are rated being perpendicular to the sun on a clear day. Just having that large of an attached panel would ruin the milage due to wind resistance. If you incorporate them into the aerodynamics of a car, the percentage of a spot will be relative to the sin of the angle. A 60 degree angle for example will give you 86.6% of the power on a clear day. Cloudy conditions are different yet.

Keeping panels parallel to the ground would reduce the wind resistance, but also the efficiency.
I was simply looking at the area footprint vs a low duty cycle,
not so much the practical idea of actually doing something like this.
If the area of the car were insufficient for a reasonable amount of parked charging,
the exercise would have ended there.
A 36 mile range from a day in the parking lot, is starting to get in the practical/possible range.

A tangent idea, A Peltier effect generator, to run a fan to exhaust hot air from a parked car.
Capturing and using all that heat that builds up in a car, to keep the heat from building up.

 

[PoS]

Just get a car like this:

 

[Jack Hays]

[h=1]Another example of climate alarmism idiocy – Germany’s dieselgate[/h] Guest essay by Larry Hamlin The Wall Street Journal published an excellent article further exposing the climate alarmist political idiocy behind Germany’s growing dieselgate scandal where diesel engine powered vehicles were falsely portrayed and promoted as environmentally superior to combustion engine powered vehicles. As the WSJ article noted: “Switching to diesel from gasoline, the…
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