Solar vehicle. Can it be done?

[XERTYX]

I feel I was lied to in the tech lab modules we had in school. The text books said that by no later than 1995 there would be solar panels on satellites gathering electricity and beaming it back to earth. All cars would be electric and youd pull in a filling station to swap out for a fully charged battery. 

I was skeptical and saw that this was edition III I skimmed thru the copies and found an edition VI (that's 6 for those born after 1987ish)

By no later than 2001 edition 6 said. They are chasing rainbows I though. It's not possible.

During my internment working for a meganational conglomerate they released among their propaganda newsletter a GREEN hero that commuted to work in a solar vehicle. The photos showed a 6 seater golf cart type vehicle with panels on the roof.


Ok. So other than using a remote power source (IE your Van's house battery) to charge your ebike what options are available to have a horseless carriage without a remote charger?

Is a solar dune buggy viable? Why not? I like to theorize things you may have noticed. It keeps things interesting and who knows? Someone might learn in the process and grow as a person.

 

[MrNoodly]

The problem is the amount of solar energy necessary. As an engineer friend explained when I asked him why electric vehicles don't have solar panels on the roof and hood, "With current technology, it would take a solar array the size of a football field to generate enough to charge a vehicle for one day's use."

 

[Sky King]

I think affordable high tech batteries is what'd holding things up. Solar panels are dirt cheap. IMHO wind power doesn't cut it when you consider parts & maintenance. I'm sure you've seen the nickle iron batteries that have been in use for over 100 years made in glass. Here's a link https://ironedison.com/nickel-iron-ni-fe-battery & the lithium iron oxide here's the link https://futurism.com/battery-revolutionize-clean-energy

 

[RVTravel]

http://www.solarcarchallenge.org/challenge/


Solar carchallenge

 

[future_vandweller]

..., "With current technology, it would take a solar array the size of a football field to generate enough to charge a vehicle for one day's use."

we can estimate this fairly easily.

It takes about 0.2 kW-hr (200 Watt-hr) to cover a mile in a typical small car.  Assuming that it has an rooftop area of 4'x8' exposed to the Sun, it amounts about 0.15 (15 efficiency panels) x 3.2 kW (amount solar power falling on the rooftop) = 480 W.  To collect 200 Watt-hr, it'll take 25 mins, about the same times it takes to walk that distance.

 

[blars]

A couple of years ago I saw a VW bus converted to solar power. I think it could go about 150 miles per day on sunny days, spending most of the time recharging. Upgrades were planned hoping to extend that to 250-300 miles per day. Look through the archives here for a reference.

Satellites beaming power to the ground have minor side effects like cooking birds that fly through, not working on cloudy days, etc. You may see your local fusion power plant first.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

The EPA rated the 2017 Tesla 90D Model S's energy consumption at 3.096 miles per kWh.
It takes 54 sq.ft. (5 sq.m.) of solar panels to generate 1 kW (20% efficiency).

So if you have 54 sq.ft. of solar panels on the roof of your van you can drive ~ 3 mph under full sun.  Or very roughly 540 sq.ft to go 30 mph.

A couple of years ago I saw a VW bus converted to solar power . . . 

I think this is the thread: https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=24025&highlight=vw+bus

IIRC they averaged ~15 miles/day on their first trip.

 

[highdesertranger]

and there you go. thanks for doing the research Spiff. I knew the numbers given were way overly optimistic but I didn't feel like looking it up at the time. highdesertranger

 

[blars]

No, the thread I was meaning was https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=26672
I did misremember the range, only 120 miles/charge with 3 day charging time. They hoped to reduce that to one day by going MPPT, but did not find appropriate controller.
Web page has not been updated recently, so must not have done the upgrades.

 

[XERTYX]

I havent looked into that thread yet but 120 miles with 3 days down time seems viable to me. I dont wander from my main port of call very often. Ideally a roadworthy vehicle that could be plated would be a dream come true but even if its feasible for an off road golf cart type vehicle for getting around on your property I like that idea. A far cry from beaming energy I was promised as a student but a step in the right direction. The most dangerous electrical fire I've ever caused happened when I tried to attach a 20 watt array to a lead acid battery powered scooter. I got it for a couple dollars without a charger. It was a 24V system and i forget what i was working on at the time but i crossed 2 wires and it caught fire fusing the throttle cable and releasing the magic smoke in the computer. So that project never took off but the batteries went into a redundancy bank i kept charged for power failures. Much nicer in a sticks and bricks apartment in the city when you have electric light during a blackout.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I stumbled on a couple of young guys on youtube doing Alaska to Chili in a small Japanese electric converted van, They had stacked solar set up that pulled out and made awning looking things when charging. I think one was a scientist the other an engineer. Anyways they were somewhere in BC last I saw them. It seemed to be working. I don;t think they are in a hurry but I am sure that it is possible in the not so distance futur. However by the time they get there someone will claim they own sunrays and you have to pay for them.

 

[XERTYX]

I stumbled on a couple of young guys on youtube doing Alaska to Chili in a small Japanese electric converted van, They had stacked solar set up that pulled out and made awning looking things when charging. I think one was a scientist the other an engineer. Anyways they were somewhere in BC last I saw them. It seemed to be working. I don;t think they are in a hurry but I am sure that it is possible in the not so distance futur. However by the time they get there someone will claim they own sunrays and you have to pay for them.

Yeah then Mr. Montgomery Burns shows up and builds a sun blocking machine. Haha. I wanted to use solar to run my trolling motor when I owned my boat. I did run it off my bank a time or 2 but my bank was only 28Ah alarm system batteries so I just putted around the marina near the slip. I dont know the foot pounds of thrust or hower trolling motors are measured but it would move a 26 foot sailboat around at a few mph. Nothing like big 100 horsepower speed boat motor but then again. Who cares? I didnt wanna shred any waves. I wanted momentum from the sun.