Should we put solar panels on hybrid electric cars so that they will charge when in a sunny parking lot, etc.?

Question

I just thought of the idea and it sounds pretty cool to me.

Answer 1

Any electric or plug-in hybrid car can be solar powered.
eg http://www.green-car-guide.com/features/...
Tesla Motors can arrange installation of solar panels on an owners home or owners can purchase electricity that has been created by the company’s large scale solar farm partners. This pollution-free electricity is fed into the grid and directly offsets the electricity used to charge the car.

it is not practical to put on the car because of the extra weight & wind resistance, the area required, and little issues like driving through tunnels in cities like Boston where there is little light at street level.

The problem with plug-in hybrids is that the patents for NiMH batteries are owned by texaco or Chevron, and they prevent making or selling large enough batteries to make the electric only range >3 miles.
But there are Li-ion batteries that will deliver, http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com, so we can get rid of the noisy, smelly part of the hybrid.

Answer 2

I think putting solar panels on a hybrid electric car makes a lot of sense. Besides the initial cost and ongoing maintenance of the system it uses a renewable source of energy to charge and extend the range of the vehicle.

If the hybrid can also plug into and get charged from a solar powered system or an ordinary household socket then that would be even better.

The link below goes to a company that from the photos has a pretty slick integrated solar roof for the Prius and some other slightly clunky versions for other vehicles.

Answer 3

Most of the answers supplied are pretty far off from accurate. The short answer here is solar power costs more than power from the power company at present. A car roof does not have enough space to supply more than a few miles per day driving with a very efficient car and the whole roof covered in a place with reasonable sun per day. Solar power on a clear day at noon supplies about 100 watts per square foot, when pointed right at the sun. The solar power on my home's roof is ~15% efficient solar cells. Some are currently being made and being tested that they claim are ~50% efficient. At that rating, you could harvest about 50 watts per square foot. 1 horsepower is about 746 watts (a little more really due to losses). Hybrids have what, 30 horsepower or sol electriv motors. So you would need 60 square feet of solar power at noon (pointed right at the sun) to run that, about 8 by 8 feet and that is with cells at 50% efficiency that are not even being sold yet. Current costs are $3 to $5/watt minimum to buy (capacity wise). I hear the price will come down as much as 80% over time. How much time, who knows? I am all for plug-in hybrids, GM may put one out next year. Expect a lot of progress in solar, hybrids and batteries over the next few years. But if everyone waits until they get better, no one buys what is sold now. And if no-one buys what is sold now, no one is going to spend the (BIG) money to improve on what they are selling now. Makes the problem somewhat tough, you know?

Answer 4

You do realize the Electric part of the car charges while it is being driven, right? Sort of makes a solar panel redundant.

Solar panels are heavy and currently inefficient. The weight would make a car use more energy than it can benefit from having a solar panel.

Now if you want to see solar tech doing something really cool. Look for Solar powered water heaters. Your water Heater is a HUGE part of your electric/gas bill. Mounting the tank and a panel on the roof not only pulls one of your biggest energy (and cash drains) off the grid, it works surprisingly well.

Answer 5

Our solar energy technology has not yet really reached a point where this would be terribly effective. A single solar panel the size of a car roof would sadly not provide very much power to the car. You certainly couldn't run on it; you might be able to power the radio, I suppose. They're expensive to produce, and to replace if anything damages them (which is fairly likely in a car). This isn't to say that solar energy is a bust or not effective at all. On a large scale, solar energy is definitely the way to go. In orbit, the International Space Stations draws major power from its solar panels, but it has hundreds of square feet of them - most space than the actual inhabited space of the station. FedEx's major shipping headquarters near LAX is covered in a state of the art solar array that, except for peak holiday shipping, tends to power the massive facility and supply a little back to the grid. Large scale, solar energy is the way to go. On a small, personal scale, we don't have enough efficiency yet to make it effective. Now, solar arrays on your roof, or spanning an otherwise vacant WalMart parking lot, into which you could plug the battery in your electric car - that sounds like a good way to get your commuting done.

Answer 6

There are many scientists around the world already working on that (except it is totally solar powered with no gasoline). They have already invented some and even have races with them, but they are trying to make it look and feel more like a normal car. The ones they built are one passenger and have extremely high tempertures in the hull (place where you sit). Also, the entire top part of the car is solar panels and they have to make the top part extremely wide to get enough sunlight. Another thing is that the cars they made can only work in places with a whole lot of sun light, like the desert where they hold most of the races.
Sorry, but someone had already came up with that idea.

Answer 7

Volkswagen has a prototype hybrid van with a solar panel on the roof. It is only a gimmick, and the solar panel can only run a fan to help keep it cool. The amount of electricity it would generate is not sufficient to run a car.

Answer 8

The industry needs to advance the manufactoring of solar panels so that the price comes down drastically.

Once 10.5 section of solar panel generates 120 watts/hour. Not powerful enough to start your car moving...but can add a few extra amps to to the power cells thus giving a little more 'get up and go'.

Answer 9

There is one Mercedes Benz model that use solar panel to keep air conditioning running while left alone in the sun. It's ultra luxury model(and not hybrid). But that solar stuff is going to cost lot of money. Not very ideal for mass production. Remember that hybrids already have $2~3000 premium over non-hybrid models. I'm sure you may be able to find people who can install such system in your car.

Lot of people are looking at plug in hybrid though. It will be cheaper and might be more reliable. You probably get obsessed with washing solar panel if you do get one on your car.

Answer 10

The problem with the Solar Car is a scientific fact dubbed the Solar Constant. The sun only sends about 1,000 watts per square yard to the surface of the earth, and even thats at mid-day with no clouds. Were taling one horsepower per square yard of car exposed to sunlight, so even with 100% efficiency of solar cells (they're really a fraction of that now) you would have to leave the car parked so long to recharge enough to drive it wouldn't be worth it.