this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
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First I've heard of them, hopefully they can get back to it soon. I'm still keeping my eyes on the Aptera
I'd love an EV charged only with solar power...but living in a place with 7h of daylight in the winter, and 200 rainy days per year, that'll never happen. During summer it is already possible (and then some) with a regular EV and rooftop solar panels to drive entirely on solar power, I don't charge my car from the grid from May to September.
Yeah, unless there's huge advances in solar panel efficiency and weight, it's probably better to focus on smart charging off static solar panels, even though it would be cool to own a car that just charges itself one day.
Companies like Aptera will need to find a niche use case where solar makes more sense than plugging in at home. I guess it would be useful for people that only have on street parking available to them?
Oh yeah it would definitely be cool to have a car powered by onboard solar panels, but I don't think that's ever going to be viable where I live. I'm getting a whooping 0.3kWh-1.5kWh of production per day at the moment on my 11.4kWp installation.
They're actually trying to do just that. Aptera developed their own solar panel assembly and charge controller to go in the car. It's designed to be super light weight and durable.
Also yes, plugging at home is not a valid option for many Americans. Even fewer can afford solar panels at home.
It probably won't happen even if you lived near the equator and had year round perfect weather. There is about 1000W/m^2^ to work with as a theoretical limit, and it's just not enough to power a car with the panels on its own roof. Not unless you keep the motor power to e-bike levels, but with way worse weight and aerodynamic cross section.
At best, it can be a supplementary power source. It needs to be low weight and low cost for even that to be worthwhile.
Hey, maybe instead you can have some 3 meter tall “solid state” wind turbines?
Nope, I live in a suburb
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You could place the solar panel in orbit and beam the energy to your car as microwaves.
This seems really promising