YouTube channel builds solar EV with infinite range – well, almost

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zohaibahd

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What just happened? We've all wondered why automakers haven't quite cracked the code on solar-powered electric vehicles yet. Well, YouTuber Drew Builds Stuff decided to take a swing at that concept himself. In a recent video, he showed it's possible to drive indefinitely solely on solar energy, but also illustrated why making this a practical reality still has a long road ahead.

The experiment started simply enough – slapping a single solar panel on the hood of a bare-bones EV platform he previously built himself. Since the car was burning around 1200 watts, the goal was rigging up enough panels to exceed that output. Rather than rebuilding the whole vehicle, he opted for a trailer decked out with solar panels. For this, he decided to go with lightweight flexible panels that weigh only 7 lbs – significantly lighter than rigid panels that weigh around 60 lbs.

After some wiring wizardry connecting the trailer's panels to the main battery, it was time to put the solar rig to the test. Under perfectly sunny skies, the EV pumped out a solid 1,350 watts consistently. During a couple of hours of driving, the battery didn't drain at all.

However, once clouds started rolling in, output plummeted to around 350 watts, far from enough to sustain the battery level. The drive ultimately had to be cut short when the battery finally ran flat before sunset.

Still, the results were impressive for a homebrew project. Over 155 miles were covered, far outpacing the 35-45 mile range of that same vehicle running just on the battery alone. The builder estimated ideal conditions could push past 300 miles. Theoretically, with non-stop sunshine, an infinite range is indeed achievable.

However, it's only achievable on a certain kind of car – one that does away with modern luxuries like crumple zones, air conditioning, and a battery that can actually sustain highway speeds. Drew Builds Stuff had to go to great lengths to cut down on the weight of the vehicle in order for it to be as efficient as possible. That means a bare frame with panels plastered everywhere, not to mention hitching a panel-laden trailer to the back.

For now, perpetual solar-powered driving remains more novelty than the norm. But this experiment was an illuminating proof-of-concept that shows one day, those rays could maybe, just maybe act as a practical power source for cars as the technology evolves.

Image credit: Drew Builds Stuff

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YouTube channel builds solar EV with infinite range – well, almost

 
A cool project! The intensity of sunlight just isn't enough on Earth for solar powered cars to be a reality without significant compromises, though, at least not with current solar panel efficiency. The physics term is radiative flux density, which measures how much energy from radiation (sunlight in this case) passes through a given area over a unit of time (the time converts that energy to power). It can also be called solar irradiance when talking specifically about sunlight (as opposed to the more general term). The amount is variable, but on a clear day at sea level it's about 1000 W/m^2, or about 1.3 horsepower per m^2 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_irradiance#Irradiance_on_Earth's_surface). Even with 100% efficiency, I don't see solar powered cars on Earth being a norm without significant compromise.
 
I do wish they would put solar panels on the roofs of cars; not so much as for motive power, but instead to simply run ventilation fans during hot days, maybe even a little bit of the AC, if the panel was big enough. Nobody likes coming back to a super heated car.
 
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Theoretically, with non-stop sunshine, an infinite range is indeed achievable.
Click to expand...
Theoretically, with a road that ran infinitely downhill, an infinite 30-mph tailwind, and infinite roadside rest stations with food and water, we could simply abandon cars entirely and bicycle everywhere.
 
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Dreadcthulhu said:
I do wish they would put solar panels on the roofs of cars; not so much as for motive power, but instead to simply run ventilation fans during hot days, maybe even a little bit of the AC, if the panel was big enough. Nobody likes coming back to a super heated car.
Click to expand...
VW Passat had this dash fan running when ignition was off and solar powered in circa 1998.

Only the roof here!

s-l1600.webp
 
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human7 said:
A cool project! The intensity of sunlight just isn't enough on Earth for solar powered cars to be a reality without significant compromises, though, at least not with current solar panel efficiency. The physics term is radiative flux density, which measures how much energy from radiation (sunlight in this case) passes through a given area over a unit of time (the time converts that energy to power). It can also be called solar irradiance when talking specifically about sunlight (as opposed to the more general term). The amount is variable, but on a clear day at sea level it's about 1000 W/m^2, or about 1.3 horsepower per m^2 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_irradiance#Irradiance_on_Earth's_surface). Even with 100% efficiency, I don't see solar powered cars on Earth being a norm without significant compromise.
Click to expand...

The maximum efficiency of a single-junction solar panel is about 30%; this is a mathematically calculated figure called the Shockley Queisser Efficiency Limit or SQ Limit. Multijunction cells (effectively multi-layer, light not absorbed by the first goes through to the second) can go higher, with the common 2-junction ones used in space getting up into the 40's. The theoretical efficiency limit is 86.8% for an infinite number of layers trapping all bandgap energies at very high solar concentration levels, so you're not going to get to 100%.

The average car is about 4.5 to 6m long and 1.8 to 2.4m wide, so say 5 * 2 = 10 square meters. Assuming you can get all of this hit by sunlight at 90', I.e. ideal conditions, the approx max 1kw per square meter would give you about 8.6 kW of power. The lowest powered EV is the Dacia Spring Electric 45, whose 33kW motor gets it from 0-100km/h in 19.1 seconds. So even best effort with best theoretically possible solar panels isn't going to get you anywhere very quickly.

Of course, you could use solar panels to charge the battery, but if you left the car there stewing in the summer heat full sun all day long you'd not get much except at theoretical max, and that wouldn't be very good for the car, probably.
 
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ChrisH1 said:
The average car is about 4.5 to 6m long and 1.8 to 2.4m wide, so say 5 * 2 = 10 square meters...
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I can't fault any of your calculations. But if one assumes very cheap (and very durable and impact-resistant) solar cells, the obvious solution is to move them from the car to the road surface itself. There are orders of magnitude more surface area of road than vehicles in the US, at least. The roads provide the power, while the vehicles consume it.
 
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RudyBob said:
"We've all wondered why automakers haven't quite cracked the code on solar-powered electric vehicles yet" No I have not even once given it a thought.
Click to expand...
Fisher did it but went bankrupt. I wonder if they State their in has anything to do with it?

Future-Forward Features
Ride the Sunshine

With the Fisker Ocean’s revolutionary full-length SolarSky roof, you can harvest the sun’s rays to generate free energy to support the vehicle’s battery-powered motor. When fully exposed to the sun, the Fisker Ocean Extreme’s SolarSky can produce up to 1,500 clean, emissions-free miles per year, and under ideal conditions may increase to beyond 2,000 miles³ – all powered by pure sunshine.
https://www.fiskerinc.com/ocean1000046940.jpg
 
It's interesting to read some of the solutions:

-A "This is the top efficiency solar possible - Not anywhere feasible for current cars"-
-B "Ok but the next logical step is to put the solar panels on the roads, we've got so many of them!"
-Hypothetical C "That's a good idea but there's plenty of roads where power wouldn't be ideal for it's traffic and others with a lot of wasted power. Maybe if we keep solar stations on optimal places then deliver that power to the roads as needed!"
-Me: "....So electrified roads...Did you just re-invent THE TRAIN!?"

Seriously guys the solution is both way more simple and way more complicated than it seems: Build more *!@#* trains already. Yes this implies redesigning most of your American wastelands of barren asphalt you call suburbs. Yes it will be worth it, No I won't be taking any question: Go look at Europe before you tell me this is not feasible.
 
Dimitriid said:
Seriously guys the solution is both way more simple and way more complicated than it seems: Build more *!@#* trains already. Yes this implies redesigning most of your American wastelands of barren asphalt you call suburbs....Go look at Europe before you tell me this is not feasible.
Click to expand...
If you believe "trains" are a solution even in Europe, explain why European car ownership has risen so sharply over the last 25 years. Seems Europeans believe they still need cars and roads:

Number of cars per capita | ODYSSEE-MURE

Select the sectoral profile of your choice and get a set of graphs with comments slides presenting energy efficiency trends by sector.
www.odyssee-mure.eu www.odyssee-mure.eu
 
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