[Graeme]

I'd like this thread to be about solar-powered cars. Here's the first post.

Is Stella the solar powered car of the future?

Designed by students at the Eindhoven University of Technology in Holland, Stella won the 2013 World Solar Challenge, a 3000km endurance test over six days.

Making her first appearance in the UK, we take a look at what makes her so special.

Light power

Aside from the unique design, Stella is powered by sunlight.

It’s a misconception that a bright sunny day is needed to generate enough energy to drive a solar powered car. The opposite is true because clouds diffuse sunlight and rays of light are therefore spread across large surface areas.

Based on an average of 70km per day, which is twice the average distance driven in Holland, Stella is able to produce more energy than she uses in 10 months of the year. For the average person, this represents a sustainable method of transport.

Stella has a range of up to 700km when solar power is in action and can travel up to 420km on battery power alone. However, exact range varies depending on the terrain, as hills require more energy to negotiate.

itpro

[steam_cannon]

I like hearing some positive work on electric cars and solar assisted charging. Though solar charging a car is anemic, it is a good idea to have as a built in option for an electric car. Good stuff!

[steam_cannon]

Overview of the electric car market 2014...

Electric Car Price guide

2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV - $23,845
16 kWh battery, 62 miles (EPA), 112 MPGe, 49 kW motor

Mitsubishi's jellybean-style electric car has never been a strong seller in the U.S, but the Japanese automaker recently slashed its pricing, making it the cheapest electric vehicle on the market. You're still saddled with low performance and those unusual looks, but some owners could drive from a dealership having paid less than $16,000 for their i-MiEV, if they're able to maximize their use of incentives.

2014 smart fortwo electric drive - $25,750
17.6 kWh battery, 68 miles (EPA), 107 MPGe, 55 kW motor

Smart's Fortwo Electric Drive is one of the cheapest new electric cars on the market. You only get two seats, but you also get rid of the gasoline car's jerky transmission. There's enough power to make good progress now, and if you're able to benefit from incentives, the price starts to look quite tempting. Convertible models are an extra $3,000 but top-down electric driving is a wholly pleasant experience.

2014 Chevrolet Spark EV - $27,495
20 kWh battery, 82 miles (EPA), 119 MPGe, 110 kW motor

Chevrolet has put the same effort into its diminutive Spark as it did the Volt, and has managed to improve the aerodynamics and interior to match the Spark's electric aspirations. With huge torque on offer, performance is strong and the Spark EV is good fun to drive.

2014 Nissan Leaf - $29,830
24 kWh battery, 75 miles (EPA), 115 MPGe, 80 kW motor

The Leaf is one of the better-known electric cars. While sales haven't matched Nissan's expectations and there have been issues with battery degradation in hot weather, the Leaf is still one of the most usable electric cars on the market. 2013's price drop made the Leaf one of the more affordable electric cars on the market.

2014 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid - $30,800
5.2 kWh battery, 11 miles (EPA blended), 6 miles (EPA all-EV), 95 MPGe, 60 kW motor (134-hp combined)

The Prius Plug-In is a little off the pace technologically these days, but its similarity to the regular, familiar hybrid means it's ideal for drivers trading up from a regular Prius. The short all-electric range is disappointing to some--but in terms of sales, it's actually one of the better-selling plug-ins around.

2014 Fiat 500e - $32,650
24 kWh battery, 87 miles (EPA), 116 MPGe,

Fiat's 500e electric car may be a mere "compliance car", but the engineers have done a great job--it's nippy, fun to drive and probably a better vehicle than the gasoline version. Limited availability is a hindrance, though, and the price is pretty steep for such a small car. Oh, and Fiat's boss would prefer you didn't buy one--it's costing him money...

2014 Ford C-MAX Energi - $33,745
7.6 kWh battery, 19 miles (EPA), 88 MPGe, 88 kW motor (195-hp combined)

Ford's first plug-in hybrid challenger mixes good performance with impressive efficiency in electric mode. Like the Toyota Prius V, it's a practical vehicle too, ready to handle everything family life can throw at it.

2014 Chevrolet Volt - $34,995
16.5 kWh battery, 38 miles (EPA), 98 MPGe, 111 kW motor

Build your own Electric Car!

Can't afford a Nissan Leaf? No Problem!

Build a cheap electric car yourself by removing the the car engine, replacing it with a forklift motor, and adding batteries.

How to build a 72Volt electric motorcycle
No gas, no oil and almost silent. 72 Volts, 70mph of pure fun. This is how I built an electric motorcycle.

[Longtimber]

Here in Pensacola ( New Orleans Weather ) we get 1.1 kWh per
260 watt panel annual average. So a ~4 kW PV Array will charge a 16kWH standard Leaf daily. Typically array these days is 5kW .. $3 per watt installed before 30% Fed tax credit. 6-8 year payback. Hopefully cars soon will have direct PV/DC charging input which would take the grid out of the equation for next to zero additional investment. For daily use, would want 2-3x the PV for cloudy day charging if independent of grid. Charging a superbike under 1 hour from van top panels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cX-_eB8nkk

[Graeme]

What Is A Solar Car And How does It work?

We all are aware of the solar-powered vehicles, which utilise the sun's energy to run the automobile. A solar car is just like any other 4-wheeler except the powertrain of the former uses sunlight to power the electric motor, unlike in the case of latter, which solely depends on liquid fuel. As such vehicles make use of sun's energy, they are much more clean and mild in terms of emission and are not hazardous to the environment. Such eco-friendly cars are being designed and put into production by several auto giants of the world. Almost all the major auto brands have recognised the need to produce a green car, which not only provides zero emissions but also scores high on mileage scale. However, most of the general public is still unaware as to how a solar car works and what all are the procedures involved in it.

These eco-friendly cars have solar panels mounted on their roof or exterior and these panels help in gathering the sunlight. The basic solar panel is made up of numerous Photovoltaic Cells (PVC), which efficiently transform the solar energy into electric energy.

The elements used in the making of PVC are most commonly Silicon, alloys of Nitrogen, Gallium and Indium. All of these elements have the capacity to retain light and then release it in the form of rapidly moving electrons, which help in generating flow of electricity.

This electricity is then stored in the batteries of a green car that are made up of special materials, such as lithium-ion, nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride. All of these elements help the battery in storing more amount of charge then the other conventional battery types.

When these eco-friendly cars are accelerated, the battery sends energy to drive the electric motor and in turn help the vehicle move. A solar car has the capacity to generally operate in voltage range of 80 – 170 V and can have a driving range of about 50-100 km.

When a green car is parked under sunlight, the PVC attract the sun's energy and convert them to electric energy, which is then stored in the battery for further use.

However, most of such cars are not suitable for driving long distances, therefore, these are also being fitted with a standard engine under the hood. This engine comes to play when all the energy is drained from the battery and the driver has a considerable range to cover. While these cars run on the normal engine type, the solar cells help in retaining sunlight and use it to power the electric devices inside, such as radio, power windows and instrument cluster. Such types of clean and green vehicle are much needed in the modern world so as to conserve the pending non-renewable energy resources for future generation.

cartrade

[Longtimber]

Batteries.. for traction it's Lithium.. period , it's the most reactive metal ( see the Periodic table ) nothing comes close to the energy density, even though is's a fraction of petrol. The current focus is on LIFEPo4 - a compromise in economics, power density and stability.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_i ... te_battery
which has ~100wh/kg. So each 10kWh weights 100kg.
This is a more stable battery than phone cells or the unstable cells in the 787.
Elon says materials are $80 per kWH. Current market price for prisms is about $300. Elon's super factory is targeting a 30% reduction. Note that in terms of $/kWh stored, LIFEPo4 is already lower cost than LA. ( Lead Acid)
Tesla's model E goals would consume many times more than current global production. The technology is evolving ... steadily. So someone has to scale up. For more info, there's a book call bottled lighting .. it's a dated, but GREAT read on this transformative race.

[Graeme]

Students Build Record-Breaking Solar Electric Car

Sunswift, a team of engineering students from the University of New South Wales, designed and built a car that holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest solar-powered vehicle. In 2011, that car reached a top speed of 88 km/h (55 mph). The team hopes that its newest vehicle, eVe, will break a 20-year-old electric vehicle record for the highest average speed over a 500 km (310 mi) distance. The current record is 73 km/h (45 mph), and the Sunswift team is confident that eVe can beat that by a comfortable margin. For the record attempt on July 23, 2014, the car will only use a fully charged battery bank without help from its solar panels.

Aiming for a Practical Solar Electric Car

Speed vs. distance is one of the trade-offs with electric vehicles. Going fast increases drag, which decreases range. Many “novelty” solar cars are designed for high speeds while most commercial electric cars are optimized for long distances. The Sunswift team wants to create a practical solar electric car that can drive at sustained highway speeds while still providing a respectable range. Winning races and breaking records are nice, but Sunswift has a loftier goal: to revolutionize the car industry. Unlike the “spaceship” designs of the past, eVe is more conventional: a two-door, two passenger car that’s almost street legal.

engineering

[Longtimber]

Many EV's have amazing efficiency. Energy density of LiFEPO4 Batteries at .1kWh/kg - Diesel @ 11.86 kWh/kg. 100x energy density. Bend you mind around the challenge. Not your fathers Oldsmobile indeed. Just think of the millions of calories/hr (kcal/hr) just from the radiator of an ICE car. ICE Cars don't have to be wasteful pigs. http://www5.mercedes-benz.com/en/innova ... k-of-fuel/ Also BMW i3 "Hybrid only version" sat in the US port for weeks. Something like the DOT/EPA weasels could not classify it's energy consumption. http://green.autoblog.com/2014/05/20/al ... k-at-port/

[Graeme]

Solar Energy Just Powered a Race Across the Country

It may not have gotten a lot of media attention, but a recent eight-day race across the country may be laying the groundwork for vehicles of the future. The American Solar Challenge pits universities against each other in a challenge to make the fastest and most efficient vehicle powered only by the sun.

The course weaved from Austin, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota, crossing towns big and small in the dash across America. The winning team from the University of Michigan traveled the 1,722.55 mile course in 41:27:29 for an average speed of 41.5 miles per hour. That's impressive when you consider that the car was powered only by the sun, and it shows just how much potential there is for solar energy on cars in the future.


This year, Ford announced that the C-Max Energi will be fitted with SunPower solar cells on the roof. These cells will power the battery whether the car is in operation or not, giving almost enough energy to fully charge the 21-mile electric range each day.

This is the first of these solar-electric vehicles to hit the market, but with the success of vehicles like Tesla Motors ' Model S, I would be surprised if we didn't see more. Earlier this year, I calculated that even a small 300-watt array on the roof of a Model S -- the same size as C-Max Energi's array -- could provide over 2,000 miles of range without plugging the vehicle in. If cells are added to more than the roof, that figure could rise to over 5,000 miles of range from on-board solar.

nasdaq

[Graeme]

If battery-powered EV's can be charged by the sun, then they will beat FCVs.

[StarvingLion]

If battery-powered EV's can be charged by the sun, then they will beat FCVs.

Look everyone, Graeme is still living in the stone age of batteries and fuel cells.

I've invented the Photocatalytic Reactor suitable for home use: all you need for inputs is light, water, CO2 and voila, out comes hydrocarbons. The cretins of the petrochemical banking complex simply do not understand quantum mechanics. I'm going to kick their fat worthless asses off the planet.

[Graeme]

Stella is a prototype. Tomorrow's private transport won't look like that. Nor will the present-day solar panels on cars. They are both evolving. You make an important point about the times when the sun doesn't shine, which indicates to me the FCV does have a future or at least a combination of battery (charged by solar when possible) and fuel cell. Anyway, this thread is about new developments in solar charging of batteries in any future mode of transport including private vehicles. The panels have to be mounted on the vehicle: some commercial ones have already been made (see above).

[Graeme]

This new car doesn't have solar panels on it but this new development is the next best thing.

Solar Powered Volkswagen e-Golf Lands On US Shores

Ever since Volkswagen created an all-electric version of its popular Golf model we’ve been itching for it to go on sale in the US, and now it’s coming later this year with solar bells on. Solar giant SunPower has just announced that it is hooking up with VW to provide e-Golf purchasers in the US with a turnkey solar installation that includes solar energy storage and management features.

While that’s great news for US e-Golf buyers, it also opens up a whole ‘nother can of worms for US utility companies, which are already struggling to adapt to an energy market that is increasingly leaning on small scale, distributed renewable energy generation.

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney once joked that you can’t drive a car with a windmill on it. That may be, but electric vehicle batteries enable you to leave your windmill at home, or your solar panels, and just tote around the renewable energy they produce. That is why we feel that we can get away with calling the e-Golf a solar-powered EV.

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

Aston Martin creates solar powered race car

Green energy is a big deal for many today. As such Aston Martin has created a race car powered by the sun and intends to use it in upcoming competitions.

Hanergy Group researchers are working with race technicians to install advanced panels on top of the car. Scientists developed this advanced collector for high-intensity uses such as racing. Therefore it draws in much more power than the normal sort of panel.

Energy from these is not used to actually run the engine or move the wheels. Solar energy will power the AC system to free up power to other car parts. While that may not seem important to the average person a driver can get very hot during a fast-paced GT race. Therefore the AC saps quite a bit of engine power according to Autoblog Canada.


At the moment solar power is mostly used to power sub-systems in vehicles. Many believe that with recent advancements in solar collectors we could one day see them power larger devices. We do have some models using solar power but researchers are working on how to make them efficient.

digitaljournal

[Graeme]

I want to stray a little further from theme of this thread because it involves charging batteries for EVs. It reminds me of the trolley buses we used to have in NZ. Will it move to motorways worldwide?

Siemens eHighway Gets Ready To Roll

The dream of an electric highway for your electric vehicle is nudging a bit closer to reality. We’ve covered some of the research into in-road wireless charging, and while that could be far ahead in the future Siemens has already come up with a working overhead system, called eHighway, which enables vehicles to switch seamlessly from liquid fuels to electric power.

The system has been tested out in Europe since 2011 and now it’s set to debut in the US, at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

We’re thinking that Siemens’ eHighway would be ideal for EVs like the Chevy Volt, the all-electric drive car that can run off gasoline or battery power.

You Volt owners will have to hold your breaths for a while, though. Adaptation for smaller vehicles is a possibility, but for now the eHighway system is designed for large trucks. The aim is to reduce carbon emissions in the ground shipping industry, especially in port areas where truck congestion generates a considerable mess.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District, which covers the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, spotted eHighway as a way to reduce local air pollution and invited Siemens over to check it out.

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

Here's yet another variant to the theme of solar panels on cars. This time the panels are located on a canopy above the parked EVs at the Ford plant.

At Ford Headquarters, Electric Cars To Be Charged By Solar Canopy Parking Lot.

Ford is planning to build a solar canopy covering 360 parking spaces at their world headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan near Detroit. The company, which is teaming with DTE Energy, will spend roughly $5 million to construct the 1.038 megawatt project, which when completed in 2015 will be the largest solar array in the state.

Thirty of the spaces covered by the solar canopy will include charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles, or EVs, with the most likely of these being the hybrid Ford Fusion Energi and the recently announced C-Max Solar Energi. Ford says the C-Max Solar Energi car has a “special solar concentrator lens similar to a magnifying glass” that helps boost the efficiency of the canopy-like rooftop solar cells, which can also shift position to follow the sun as it moves across the sky.

thinkprogress

[Graeme]

Are the world’s cars on the cusp of going solar?

Within a decade, declining prices of solar systems and batteries combined with the rise of electric vehicles may start sending internal combustion engines to the junk yard, analysts say.

"By 2020, shrinking battery and solar cost will make EVs (electric vehicles) in the mass segments the cheaper alternative over a car life cycle in most European markets," UBS analysts said in a note last week.

It expects Europe, particularly Germany, Italy and Spain, to lead the shift due to their high fuel and retail electricity costs, with a "conservative" estimate for around 10 percent of Europe's new car registrations to be electric vehicles by 2025.

"A mass segment EV will have almost the same sticker price as a combustion engine car [by 2020]. But it will save up to 2,000 euros ($2,632) per year on fuel cost, hence, it will begin to pay off almost immediately," UBS said.

cnbc