Solar Panels on a Tesla

[Woody]

A couple of years ago Curioscarbon discussed putting solar panels on cars in the “Can the electrical grid handle a boom in electric vehicles “ topic thread. Well someone actually did just that! No more WAG on estimating range either. They installed nine 175watt solar panels on to the Tesla which can produce about 6kwh of power collected off a good sunny day resulting in an additional 20miles range.

Very Interesting! Funny I keep thinking I could use this approach for a Mad Max or Dune vehicle.

Here’s a link to the website that details this effort, with pictures too.

DartSolar

www.dartsolar.com

 

[chrisski]

A couple of years ago Curioscarbon discussed putting solar panels on cars in the “Can the electrical grid handle a boom in electric vehicles “ topic thread. Well someone actually did just that! No more WAG on estimating range either. They installed nine 175watt solar panels on to the Tesla which can produce about 6kwh of power collected off a good sunny day resulting in an additional 20miles range.

Very Interesting! Funny I keep thinking I could use this approach for a Mad Max or Dune vehicle.

Here’s a link to the website that details this effort, with pictures too.

DartSolar

www.dartsolar.com

Does anyone think this is a good idea?

Wind loads, setup time, liability for accidents, etc...

 

[Arlene303]

Aptera is better set up for wind resistance, plus you can car camp and sleep in Aptera. However, in my Prius Prime I could lay my portable 200W bluetti foldable solar panel INSIDE the glass hatchback of my car, to charge now today to my Bluetti AC180, not fully practical, but I wish my prius prime had a factory installed MC4 connector to plug solar panel into, to charge car directly from solar panel. I wish I could paste a semi-clear high efficiency 300-500W PV panel to the inside of my Prius Prime hatchback now, that I could semi see thru, kind of like the dots on car wraps advertising that still let the driver see out the back window and would provide more shade for passengers at the same time. I like how Aptera has solar panels in 4 places: On front hood, on forward dashboard where it meets front windshield, on roof, and on hatchback. Aptera determined solar panels need to be covered in glass for best efficiency since plastics aren't working as well. It'd be cool to have a factory option from Prius Prime for a PV paneled hood or PV paneled hatchback with see thru rectangles or dots.

 

[justinm001]

Once Perovskite solar cells become more main stream I'm betting we'll see a lot of solar sunroofs that'll provide 100-200w of power to vehicles.

I remember my Audi had a solar sunroof option which it used to recharge the battery and would run the hvac when the car was hot mid day parking lot. More of a marketing gimmick but a good idea to keep the cars battery topped off when sitting for months. Many 2000's RVs had a 10-20w panel to charge the battery too back then. I'm really surprised this stuff didn't stay and become more popular. I can't be the only one who leaves cars outside for months at a time not being used.

 

[Checkthisout]

Sorry to poo poo but what's the point of that? I bet the wind resistance it generates when folded up, offsets any benefits it provides.

 

[Arlene303]

How about this aftermarket company from Austin Texas making them for Teslas because of high quantity, but also has non-tesla generic universal version that'll clip onto most cars. Mentions playing with different integrations y splitter, overland kit, dealing with overcharging, within warranty spec, aiming for customer installable and/or dealer install

 

[curiouscarbon]

i was pretty grumpy in that thread, sorry about that

nice to see more experimenting going on

if they go fast enough, it might take off, which should reduce rolling friction

 

[pollenface]

I see the benefit of using solar to help supply the 12v side of things so less energy is drawn from the HV battery. I already do this with my diesel so a little less energy is drawn from the alternator and the 12v batteries are always topped up.

A common complaint with some EV's is a dead/dying 12v battery which doesn't let you unlock the doors or "start" the car.

 

[Tomthumb62]

A common complaint with some EV's is a dead/dying 12v battery which doesn't let you unlock the doors or "start" the car.

Yeah, so glad this isn’t a common complaint with petrol vehicles…

But seriously, why is the a problem specific to EV’s? Or do the owners simply not maintain the 12v battery, which is usually the exact cause of dead/dying 12v batteries in petrol vehicles?

 

[justinm001]

Yeah, so glad this isn’t a common complaint with petrol vehicles…

But seriously, why is the a problem specific to EV’s? Or do the owners simply not maintain the 12v battery, which is usually the exact cause of dead/dying 12v batteries in petrol vehicles?

Didn't know this was a thing but I'm thinking it's because climate control

 

[Andrewr05]

Yeah that just seems like a horrible oversight, why wouldn't the EV pack or even the regenerative circuit be trickle charging the battery all the time?

Or better yet, why on earth do they have a single little 12v battery AT ALL instead of a solidly built buck converter that just always outputs 14v?
It seems asinine to me.

 

[justinm001]

Yeah that just seems like a horrible oversight, why wouldn't the EV pack or even the regenerative circuit be trickle charging the battery all the time?

Or better yet, why on earth do they have a single little 12v battery AT ALL instead of a solidly built buck converter that just always outputs 14v?
It seems asinine to me.

Doesn't make much financial sense. There's so many motors and such needed for things like hvac, steering and other things. Also redundancy and safety precautions. Batteries can be up to 800v. Although idk how they charge the 12v or anything

 

[Checkthisout]

Yeah that just seems like a horrible oversight, why wouldn't the EV pack or even the regenerative circuit be trickle charging the battery all the time?

Or better yet, why on earth do they have a single little 12v battery AT ALL instead of a solidly built buck converter that just always outputs 14v?
It seems asinine to me.

It does have a converter to change traction battery to chassis batter voltage.

The battery is needed to dampen loads and power up the equipment that runs the car.

Think how a grid connected solar system with anti-islanding shuts down when grid is lost. Same concept.

 

[Doggydogworld]

But seriously, why is the a problem specific to EV’s? Or do the owners simply not maintain the 12v battery, which is usually the exact cause of dead/dying 12v batteries in petrol vehicles?

EVs tend to have a lot of electronics and computers running even when the car is parked. All powered from the 12V battery because the HV battery is disconnected via relay for safety reasons. Most will reconnect the HV to recharge the 12V if it gets too low. This "works", but cycles the 12V quite often which leads to premature cycle life death.

Engineers now take pains to reduce consumption when the vehicle is off, but they kind of blew it off with earlier models because "why sweat 10W here and there when you've got 80 kWh onboard?"

 

[sunshine_eggo]

This 12V-EV thing has been going on for nearly 25 years. Prius drivers are still shocked to this day to find out that they have a 12V battery

 

[Tomthumb62]

EVs tend to have a lot of electronics and computers running even when the car is parked. All powered from the 12V battery because the HV battery is disconnected via relay for safety reasons. Most will reconnect the HV to recharge the 12V if it gets too low. This "works", but cycles the 12V quite often which leads to premature cycle life death.

Engineers now take pains to reduce consumption when the vehicle is off, but they kind of blew it off with earlier models because "why sweat 10W here and there when you've got 80 kWh onboard?"

Are the 12v batteries in EV’s still typically lead acid? Or another chemistry? I guess it depends whether it’s a pure electric vehicle like a Tesla or a hybrid like a Prius which does have a gasoline engine that needs to be started. If you can’t tell, I don’t know anything about any of these kinds of vehicles, but I suspect I should start learning.

 

[Checkthisout]

Are the 12v batteries in EV’s still typically lead acid? Or another chemistry? I guess it depends whether it’s a pure electric vehicle like a Tesla or a hybrid like a Prius which does have a gasoline engine that needs to be started. If you can’t tell, I don’t know anything about any of these kinds of vehicles, but I suspect I should start learning.

They are lead-acid because lead acid works at low temperatures without having to heat the battery.

Some hybrids have a standard starter that gets used to start the engine via a standard starter if the traction battery/motor system develops a problem. Limp Mode.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

They are lead-acid because lead acid works at low temperatures without having to heat the battery.

Yep.

Some hybrids have a standard starter that gets used to start the engine via a standard starter if the traction battery/motor system develops a problem. Limp Mode.

00-06 Honda Insight, 03-11 Civic and 09-14 Insight. Maybe more. I'm not aware of any other makes that had secondary starters. Definitely no Toyotas.

They were able to do this due to the "bolt-on" nature of their hybrid system, and their shit hybrid batteries made it almost mandatory.

 

[JBertok]

Does urinating into a swimming pool raise its level? Technically, "yes", but...

The range of a car most effectively be extended by lowering its weight and/or drag. I would bet money that dropping the suspension 1", adding 5psi to each tire, and replacing the side mirrors with cameras (which is what Musk wanted to do originally but was federally denied) would benefit a Model 3 range more than converting it into a mobile helipad.

 

[Checkthisout]

Does urinating into a swimming pool raise its level? Technically, "yes", but...

The range of a car most effectively be extended by lowering its weight and/or drag. I would bet money that dropping the suspension 1", adding 5psi to each tire, and replacing the side mirrors with cameras (which is what Musk wanted to do originally but was federally denied) would benefit a Model 3 range more than converting it into a mobile helipad.

Most people are ignorant as how much impact tire size, type and correct inflation has on fuel/electric economy.

That ski rack left on year-round doesn't help either.