[mattW]

One of the proposed ways to extend the range of an electric car is through the addition of solar panels. A solar cell or photovoltaic (PV) cell is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy by the photovoltaic effect, a solar panel is a group of solar cells packaged together into one unit. Thus a vehicle (or any area) covered with solar panels exposed to sunlight will produce usable electric energy. In an EV this means that solar panels can be used either for on board charging or directly powering the controller/motor. PV cells are a non polluting renewable source of electricity with no moving parts and little required maintenance.

Common Questions About Solar Power and EVs.

Can an EV run purely on the energy generated by solar power at highway speeds?

Yes! Purpose built vehicles are able to achieve very impressive speeds using just the power of the sun. In the World Solar Challenge these solar cars compete against each other in a race across Australia running purely on sunlight and a small battery pack. The winner of the 2007 race, the Dutch Nuon Solar team, averaged 90km/h (56mph) in their solar car Nuna4 pictured below:
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Can a normal EV conversion run purely on the energy generated by solar power at highway speeds?

No. The reason that these solar cars can travel at such impressive speeds is because they are some of the most efficient vehicles in the world. These cars can travel at highway speeds using about the same amount of energy as your hair dryer, about 10% of the energy required by a normal sized car. They have extremely efficient solar cells covering 8m2 (86 sqft) to gain as much power as possible. Using Solar Cells on a standard conversion will give around a 5-10% increase in range and the ability to trickle charge the batteries when parked in the sun but not yield enough energy for anywhere near highway speeds.
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Why aren't Solar panels a viable option as a range extender?

The reason is due to the power to weight (and cost) ratio of solar panels:

'For some figures, typically you could fit about 200W of solar panels onto a car. Solar panels generally provide the equivalent of 5 hours at their rated power per day, i.e about 1kWh for a 200W panel per day, which is about 5km of extra range in a small vehicle. 5km may sound somewhat useful, but 1kWh worth of extra batteries weighs and costs less than a 200W solar panel! Also unless you're very careful with your installation, the increase in aerodynamic drag will quickly negate any extra range they can provide.*'

*Quote by Ian Hooper
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Has anyone tried it before?

Yes. There are some enthusiasts who have installed solar panels on their EVs with some success. For example the University of Maine Solar Vehicle Team added a substantial 1kW solar array to their Chevy S-10 EV which gave them a 10-15 mile range using solar power alone at moderate speeds compared to 100 miles with the battery pack.

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[jimy_f_84]

Hi, new here.

My thoughts for my build is to have a solar panel that i could have it charge the batteries while i am at work, sine i spend there about 10 hours. any thoughts, is it doable?

 

[Ziggythewiz]

Not unless your car looks like the one above.

However, a small panel can keep provide all your 12v charging needs if you don't drive at night, and more panels could provide an additional 2 miles or so of range.

 

[NZero]

I disagree. Having competed in the Australia race the sun solar car challenge I love the idea of panels.

My Honda (E-Lude in the garage) could have a 140watt panel mounted on the roof for instance. With a good charge controller it could give my 120v pack 1 amp every hour so over 10 hours I've gained 10Ah and in my 100Ah pack thats another 10%.

If my battery runs flat somewhere I know that given some time I can limp back home. However given where I live a small turbine (800 watt) that folds up is far more viable.

 

[Ziggythewiz]

thats another 10%.

If you have a 20 mile range, that's 2 extra miles, as I said above. I think solar is a cool addition, but if your battery runs flat somewhere, you can walk home long before the solar will get you there.

 

[NZero]

If you have a 20 mile range, that's 2 extra miles, as I said above. I think solar is a cool addition, but if your battery runs flat somewhere, you can walk home long before the solar will get you there.

But I have 100km range so thats another 10km and I would rather have that extra push then walk 10km lol. Not that I have panels installed but its only a matter of time.

 

[Ziggythewiz]

How are you getting 62 miles off a 100ah pack? What's your kwh/m?

Assuming no other possible form of transportation, I'd walk the 10km home (2 hour stroll) watch 2 full football games, then walk back to the car and drive it home.

 

[T1 Terry]

Solar charging is part of the plan with my conversion but it's just a little different to the norm. Mine is a 36 ft bus converted to a motorhome with 1kw of solar on the roof. Naturally at the moment it can't be a full electric propulsion system so it will start out as a hybrid but as the technology improves I hope to finally do away with the ICE altogether. A big motor, big controller and lots of batteries, outside reality at the moment so an electric assist using a smaller ICE will have to do for the moment.

T1 Terry

 

[NZero]

How are you getting 62 miles off a 100ah pack? What's your kwh/m?

Assuming no other possible form of transportation, I'd walk the 10km home (2 hour stroll) watch 2 full football games, then walk back to the car and drive it home.

120v @ 100ah = 100 Kilometers of driving (at avg 85km/h)
I dont know miles etc but I'm sure from that you could tell me my useage.

Car is a stripped out Honda Prelude with light mag wheels and a low drag co efficient.

 

[Ziggythewiz]

Have you driven 100 km on a single charge? Even if you could take 100ah from a 100ah battery, which you can't, you can only run it down to 80% DOD (50% recommended for longer battery life).

 

[NZero]

Have you driven 100 km on a single charge? Even if you could take 100ah from a 100ah battery, which you can't, you can only run it down to 80% DOD (50% recommended for longer battery life).

Yup. They register as 121Ah (c5 rate) on a battery tester (when they are fully charged minus 3 minutes run time) and I would have been close to 80% upon arriving home. Car only draws about 250a accelerating (as I normally would in an ICE) and draws around 70-80 amps to keep it going. Could you tell me what my mile/kwh is???

 

[Ziggythewiz]

The proper way to calculate wh/m is by dividing miles driven into amount charged measured using a killawatt, charger, or BMS. If we just use your numbers though, 120V*100AH/100 km = 120wh/km or 194wh/m, which is incredibly low.

However, if your garage is correct, you have 2 strings of 100AH in parallel, which means your battery pack is 200AH, so 120V*200AH/100 km = 240wh/km or 388wh/m, which is more reasonable for a 2500 lbs car. Your real numbers would be somewhat less if calculated measuring watt-hours in.

You can expect a 140watt panel to give about 700 wh/day in a good sun location, so you should be able to get an extra 3 miles/day using solar.

 

[NZero]

The proper way to calculate wh/m is by dividing miles driven into amount charged measured using a killawatt, charger, or BMS. If we just use your numbers though, 120V*100AH/100 km = 120wh/km or 194wh/m, which is incredibly low.

However, if your garage is correct, you have 2 strings of 100AH in parallel, which means your battery pack is 200AH, so 120V*200AH/100 km = 240wh/km or 388wh/m, which is more reasonable for a 2500 lbs car. Your real numbers would be somewhat less if calculated measuring watt-hours in.

You can expect a 140watt panel to give about 700 wh/day in a good sun location, so you should be able to get an extra 3 miles/day using solar.

No the garage is quite off. I only use the one string but am planning on replacing my gels with Lipo very soon. Car is way under 2500lbs though, closer to 1900 plus 180 for the driver and that is soon to shrink aswell. There is no rear seating, door cards reduced, dash trimmed back etc so car is very light but on its down side roof is electric, mirrors are electric, lights pop up, windows are electric. So using many functions often would sap a bit too.
However with the manual gearbox without clutch I can run the engine at its best for long periods so that certainly helps things in that department.

 

[Ziggythewiz]

You should really get a kill-a-watt or something so you can measure the actual kWH/mile, and then go enter a contest or somethin, a wkh/mile of 150-200 is pretty awesome.

 

[NZero]

You should really get a kill-a-watt or something so you can measure the actual kWH/mile, and then do enter a contest or somethin, a wkh/mile of 150-200 is pretty awesome.

Cool, I didn't realise I had anything special. The Vws on 72v and 96v could do about the same distance on Trojan 125 flooded batteries. The Subaru will be able to do an estimated 75-80Kms on 140Ah floodeds and that thing is a tank.

 

[crack monkey]

I am working on a design for a buggy and i want to use solar as the primary means for recharging (even if it takes a few days to do it) can anyone recomned a charge controler that would work well?

the charge controlers that i have been looking at need more voltage and are putting out less charge... midnight solar and outback power have been the ones i was looking at.

battery size is 72 volts
I am looking at bp solar 350j 50w 12v panels.. they are compact (40"x21")and about $250 each

thanks

 

[T1 Terry]

I am working on a design for a buggy and i want to use solar as the primary means for recharging (even if it takes a few days to do it) can anyone recomned a charge controler that would work well?

the charge controlers that i have been looking at need more voltage and are putting out less charge... midnight solar and outback power have been the ones i was looking at.

battery size is 72 volts
I am looking at bp solar 350j 50w 12v panels.. they are compact (40"x21")and about $250 each

thanks

The easiest way I can see is to split the pack into 3 x 24v packs and charge them in parallel. you need a fully adjustable solar regulator like the Plasmatronic PL20/40/60 unit so you can control the voltage and the current if you have a big solar system. If you have the $$ a home pack with one or two extra cells could be charged during the day and the linked to the vehicle to recharge the pack fairly quickly.

T1 Terry

 

[FirstRodeo]

I agree with the use of solar panels on cars also. If there is not one technology that can get us off fossil fuels why not combine solar and electric. Why not put a wind turbine on there to and use solar, electric, and wind to power a car.

 

[louismoulton]

I am slowly converting a Fiat 126 to electric and it will have 200W of solar. It is a 48Volt system using a 48V controller. I have estimated I might get as much as 10 km of solar per day. This would be awesome. I really only need the car to travel about 6 km a day. Better still most days I don't use a car but cycle, so for the two or three trips a week I need a car, the fuel would have been paid for when converting the car. These are flexible panels direct from China, which will be glued to the roof and bonnet (hood) with silicon. I am still a long way off getting it working and the panels are not here yet. As for speed, I doubt it with a 48v system. Range should be over 40km as the batteries are 4x12v at 150A hr.

 

[Duncan]

Hi Louis

200w will give you 800watthrs/day (ish) - maybe 4km - 10 would be 80whrs/km - 128Whrs/mile - which is in world record territory

4 x 12v x 150Ah = 7.2Kwhr
As they are 12v I assume lead
So actual (due to the demon Puekert) 3.6Kwhrs
Usable ~ 2Kwhrs (you kill Lead acid very fast at high levels of discharge)

Assume 200whrs/mile - 10 miles - 16Km

What range do you actually need?