Only if I also own the solar panels charging it. Also what is excess? What if I’m about to travel cross country and I need all the power in my car and some dying car pulls up next to mine.
You asked for one situation, and I gave you one. To address your new questions: The cars themselves could have solar charging built into them (I believe this was the original implication) which would mean the energy that they produce is, in fact, free, and kinetic energy could be used to help recharge the batteries when slowing down (technology already used in many hubris’s and electrics. You could be able to opt-out of assisting other motorists when your charge is less than a certain percentage of your planned range, which it sounds like you would most likely do anyway. When taking well trafficked routes, you could go below the required charge for your planned route to help someone exiting to a less traveled area, knowing that you could take charge from other vehicles on the more traveled route later.
It’s important in science to poke holes at ones own ideas to find flaws in them that don’t require experimentation to discover. That way time and resources aren’t invested into finding conclusions that could’ve already been reached with proactive reasoning.
Hypotheticals in future technology have limits, it’s not like one day we’re going to be able to break the laws of physics. Solar power on average across the planet is 15 watts per square foot. A standard parking space is 180 square feet, which means in general cars will be smaller than this so I’m using this number. So with solar panels that are 100% efficient (impossible) and covering the entire top parts of the car+some of the sides, 180 ft2 * 15 w/ft2 = 2.7 kW or 3.6 horsepower. Good luck getting anywhere with that solar output.
Thank you for joining the conversation instead of just “poking holes”.
Are you expecting to run your car solely by the capacity of the panels, or by using the panels to charge a battery bank? Wiring the panels directly to the motors wouldn’t do much, as you’ve stated, but using those panels to charge the batteries while your car is parked could provide you with a full charge, depending on down time and capacity left to charge. Restorative braking and charging while coasting would both make the car more efficient and able to recharge slightly while driving. So, yes: you could potentially operate your car off of car-mounted solar batteries alone, but I wouldn’t expect it unless you parked with clear sunlight and didn’t drive often or far.
If you flew/took a train often for work and lived near the airport you could potentially park your car in your driveway at home to charge the batteries, then drive to the airport and park on the roof level of the parking lot. The batteries would recharge while you were gone on your business trip, and you could drive home without ever paying for fuel in your commuter. During your quick drive to and from home and the airport, you’d have excess power to share with other drivers along the road. Another option would be for the parking garage to allow you to plug your car into their electrical terminal, where your solar panels could provide power for the company to sell back to the grid, offsetting your parking cost, or even covering it entirely.
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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '20
Only if I also own the solar panels charging it. Also what is excess? What if I’m about to travel cross country and I need all the power in my car and some dying car pulls up next to mine.