Cars with photovoltaic body surfaces?

Question

How about carbon fiber bodies coated with PV material? How about even creating photovoltaic carbonfiber. Could that be a possibility, in this amazingly fast advancing world of technology? we even have levitating nanosized mirrors, why not pv carbonfiber? Can anyone get a hold of carbon fiber? want it to build my on cool fuel vehicle.

Answer 1

I think a PV coated car is a great idea as long as it is not too expensive. Here are some calculations that show how well it might work.

With optimal collection efficiency of around 15% and a annualized average isolation (amount of solar energy from the sun) value in the US of about 4-7kWh/m2/day a typical car could collect on the order of 3-6kWh/day. That number depends upon the size of the car and how much of it is covered by PV collecting surface. I assumed a car 2 meters wide and 4 meters long about 6 1/2 x 13 feet and with 75% of its surface covered with PV collector. So what will that much energy do?

That will drive a Prius for between 10-25 miles at speeds up to about 35 mph (Plug in Prius's get about .2 kWhr/mile). The above estimates do assume the average year-around weather and assume a very well optimized solar collection system so those are practical and achievable figures. Cloudy weather can reduce the collection figure to about 2/3 to 1/4 and full mid-June sun will add about 33%.

The average motorist only drives about 20 miles a day so that means your solar powered car can very nearly provide all of it's own power, especially in the summer but will need help in the winter.

Update:

Sunlight is a diffuse source of energy but it shines all day and can be stored in batteries even when the car is not being driven. Suppose you had a plug in hybrid. You charge up overnight. You drive to work in the morning. It sits in the parking lot all day, collecting 15% of 14 hp and saving it in your battery. By evening your battery is likely to be fully recharged and you drive home. The fact that not enough sunlight hits the car to drive it without a battery simply makes no difference. What this technology could do is enable the use of smaller, cheaper and lighter batteries. And it could extend battery life by maintaining a closer to optimal charge.

Answer 2

It's a great idea. It's easy to see the advantages, but I'll take a moment to point out a few things to think about.

The gain from PV cells is different in different parts of the world. This meas efficiency would drop as one traveled towards the poles.

Since PV cells are very delicate, if you hit an airborne rock while driving you'll damage your car and it'll cost you quite a bit of money to replace the PV cell.

The reference below discussus using carbon nanotubes for PV cells. Of course, covering a car with carbon nanotubes (CNT) will be difficult (and possibly expensive).

Like I said, I think it's a great idea, and I'm sure that the possibilities are there. It'll take time for science to make a PV cell efficient enough, and CNT's strong enough, but this is one invention that would be well worth it.

Answer 3

Only problem is that all the sunlight that hits the car would not be enough to power it. I estimate that on a clear sunny day only about 14 HP of sunlight shines on a car that is 2 meters by 4 meters, and solar cells can only convert about 15% of that to electricity. That means less than 1 horse power of available electricity. Then factor in night, shadows, and clouds and you have even less power. Solar power is WEAK.

Answer 4

Probably...haha that would be sweet!

They have flexible roof shingle laminates made out of of photovoltaic cells........why not formed carbon fiber PV's..... pretty cool stuff!

http://www.uni-solar.com/interior.asp?id=102

Answer 5

It's been tried.
http://www.amazon.com/Solo-Life-Electric-Noel-Perrin/dp/0393034070
Noel Perrin bought a Ford Escort wagon converted to an electric. He put a couple of square yards of solar panel on hood and roof. It wasn't even nearly enough, it only provided about 10% of the energy he needed to run it.