Solar powered SUV

[neptronix]

https://www.cnn.com/travel/stella-terra-off-road-solar-powered-suv-morocco-hnk-spc/index.html

The road-legal car has a top speed of 145 kilometers (90 miles) per hour. On a sunny day, its battery range is around 710 kilometers (441 miles) on roads, and around 550 kilometers (342 miles) off-road, depending on the surface. In cloudy conditions, the team estimates the range could be 50 kilometers less.

 

[slaphappygamer]

Very cool. I like the idea of having a smaller battery due to constant charging. The vehicle will weight less and the battery would also be cheaper.

 

[neptronix]

In that environment, it'd make a ton of sense.
The range seems possibly unrealistic though given the power density of solar panels VS the power draw?

I'll let people who know a LOT more than me about solar panels chip in..

 

[JackFlorey]

Very cool. I like the idea of having a smaller battery due to constant charging.

I don't know that it's a smaller battery. With a range of over 400 miles it probably has at least a 70kwhr battery, similar to a Bolt's.

In terms of solar contribution it's not going to be much while you are driving. If you do a really good job you might get 6 square meters of solar on a car. The power you get depends on the cells you use. Silicon cells will get you to 23% these days; Alta's GaAs cells will get you to 29% but at a 10,000% price increase.

So with silicon you'll get 1380 watts STC which means 966 watts realistically. If you drive 400 miles let's say that takes you 6.5 hours. That means you get 6.4kwhrs if you are in full sun the whole time. On my EV that would get you another 28 miles; on a typical EV that will get you another 19 miles. That's about a 4.5% increase in range.

But where this system shines is for commuting. If you can park in the sun and add 19 miles a day, that might cover some people's commutes entirely. If you can unfold another 6 sq m of solar you can get 38 miles a day, which is close to the average American commute of 41 miles a day.

There's a complicating factor that unless you have a LOT of money (so you can make conformal panels) the panels are going to have to be either flat or follow simple contours since the cells are not very flexible. This will tend to make the vehicle less aerodynamic.

BTW the new Prius Prime does this but with a much smaller panel and much smaller battery. They advertise it can add four miles per day of range.