So here’s a thought: I’ve seen a few EVs with solar panels that can add around 4 miles of range per day. I get it, that’s not huge for most EV drivers, but for PHEV owners like me, 4 miles can be half my daily driving distance.
Seems like a no-brainer to put power-generating tech on something that needs power, right?
But think about the weight and cost vs. the benefit. Would it even be worth it?
Amelia said:
But think about the weight and cost vs. the benefit. Would it even be worth it?
Yeah, I get where the OP is coming from, but you’re right. The added weight and cost probably wouldn’t make it practical.
Honestly, this has been discussed before, and it’s just not practical due to physics and costs.
The problem is that solar panels aren’t really made for moving vehicles. They’re not ideal with all the vibrations, road debris, and even extra air resistance on highways. It usually just ends up being a net loss.
PHEVs already have a full gas engine to rely on for extra energy. Seems like solar panels would just be overkill.
Solar panels on cars just don’t make sense for the vast majority of use cases.
Source: https://xkcd.com/1924/
It’s just a thought. Whether it’s a hot take or not depends on how people react.
Peggy said:
It’s just a thought. Whether it’s a hot take or not depends on how people react.
Judging by the comments, it’s more of a lukewarm take, honestly. Someone brings up solar panels on cars almost every week.
@sorphia
Haha, fair enough! I’ll take my bowl of lukewarm take and enjoy it alone. Didn’t realize it was such a common suggestion. Thanks for the heads-up!
chozen said:
@sorphia
Haha, fair enough! I’ll take my bowl of lukewarm take and enjoy it alone. Didn’t realize it was such a common suggestion. Thanks for the heads-up!
I think home solar is probably a better option for most people. Cars might just not be the best fit for solar panels.
The ‘4 miles per day’ figure is probably under the best possible conditions. Lots of people park indoors or in shaded spots, and not everyone lives in a sunny area. Even if you did get that 4 miles, it’d take forever to pay off financially. Unless you can’t charge at home, I’m not sure it’d make sense.
You won’t reliably get 4 miles a day. That’s in perfect conditions. Usually, it’s way less. You’d only get a few hundred watts worth of power from panels on a car. It only makes sense if it’s a super low-cost option.
No way you’re getting 4 miles on a normal day. That’s more like a back-of-the-napkin estimate if the panels covered the whole car and had perfect conditions.
You could put solar panels on the car with all the hassle of maintaining them, or just install panels at home and use their output to charge the car.
Toyota offers a solar roof option on the Prius Prime. You can read Motor Trend’s take on it here: https://www.motortrend.com/features/the-2023-toyota-prius-primes-battery-could-take-three-weeks-to-recharge/
Look at it this way: on a sunny day, the amount of electricity generated by a solar roof is only worth around 11 cents. If it costs an extra $1000, you’d be looking at 25 years just to break even. Actually, you’d probably never break even compared to investing that $1000 elsewhere.
I’d be fine with more cars offering solar roofs as an option so that people can spend their money on it if they really want to.
Let’s do some quick math. Assuming poor efficiency, you’re looking at about 2kWh per day. In the UK, a good charging rate is about £0.10 per kWh. So over 10 years, you’d save around £730. That’s probably close to the cost of the panels as an option, but most people wouldn’t own the car long enough to make it worthwhile.