Many of us spend a good deal of time in our cars while on our daily commute. Sitting there, with the radio going and the AC blasting (Dallas is hot) got me wondering why no auto manufacturer has tried putting solar panels on cars.
One of the obvious benefits of having solar panels on a car is that you can generate your own power while driving. This could come in handy if you ever find yourself stuck in traffic or out on the open road with no outlet to plug into. You could also use the power generated by your solar panels to run your car’s AC, which would be a major plus in the summertime.
The more I thought about it the more question I had pop into my mind…there must be a reason solar technology hasn’t been implemented on vehicles yet…especially on electric vehicles, so I did a little digging.
Can You Put Solar Panels On Cars?
While you can install solar panels on your car, the limitations of solar panels and battery storage mean that you will only be able to power a few systems on your car and not the entire vehicle. It will also greatly reduce your car’s value and the panels will lessen the aerodynamics of your car.
Solar panels that will fit on the roof of your car won’t produce enough power to run your entire vehicle but can still run certain systems like the radio or heat/AC…but the aerodynamics of your car will be reduced, similar to adding a rooftop storage box.
Another thing to consider is that solar panels on a car can create some problems. For example, if your car is in the sun for an extended period of time most solar panels will begin to lose efficiency for every degree above 77 F.
At this point in time, it seems like solar-powered cars are still in the developmental stage and DIY kits will likely under-deliver on what most people would want to be able to power.
However, as solar technology continues to evolve and become more affordable, it’s likely that we’ll see more vehicles with solar panels in the future. So far, only a few companies have developed solar-powered car technology, but as time goes on it’s likely that this will change.
Can You Get Car Rooftop Solar Panels?
Solar panel kits that are designed for vans or RV’s can also be mounted onto the roof of most cars. These kits usually come with a mounting system and all the necessary wiring.
The great thing about solar panels that are designed for cars is that they tend to be lightweight and easy to install. This makes them an ideal choice for people who want to add a little bit of solar power to their car without making any major modifications.
One downside of using solar panels that are designed for cars is that they usually don’t generate a lot of power. So, if you’re looking to solar-power your entire car, these might not be the best option for you.
A 10 sq. foot solar panel running at 60% efficiency (which is actually quite good) will produce about 50 Watts/hour.
An electric car that averages 300 miles charges at a rate of 30 miles per charge hour. So from an empty battery to full would take approximately 10 hours at a 240-volt home charging station.
When we compare the panel output to the car battery’s needs we see that it would take 9 times as long (90 hours!) to fully charge the battery. And those 90 hours only add up when the sun is shining, so factor in many dozens of hours for nighttime and cloudy days.
Here is an article all about charging a car battery with solar power.
Another factor that could mess with the efficiency of solar panels is the angle that they are mounted to the roof. The direction in which sunlight is getting to your panel is changing throughout the day so that the 60% efficiency I mentioned above isn’t going to be continuous.
What Can Car Rooftop Solar Kits Power?
Typically, solar panel kits for a car can power a few of your vehicles less electricity-hungry systems, such as the electrical system, heat, and AC, and assist in charging the battery.
Many cars come with built-in entertainment centers for the kiddos in the backseat. These draw power from the car battery like everything else in your vehicle. If you do a lot of travel and want to take some of the strain off your main car battery, then a solar panel setup charging a secondary battery might be a great option for you.
If you’re like me and have a family that loves going on picnics most weekends but you hate having to pack several coolers with ice, you could hook up a small fridge that you leave in the trunk. The family still sits out on a blanket or picnic table and just runs back to the car when they need something to drink. And best of all, no water leaking all over your trunk!
As more people begin travel blogging either as a hobby or business, they find that having the extra bit of power provided by rooftop solar panels can help keep their cameras, phones, and laptop charged while they’re on the go.
Will Rooftop Solar Kits Make Your Car Lose Value?
Generally, any modification to your vehicle such as a rooftop solar panel can reduce the value of your car. While there is no set reduction rate, things such as roof carriers and bike racks bring a car’s value down, and something as niche as a rooftop solar panel will bring it down even further.
Vehicles already depreciate greatly once you drive them off the lot…some averages are as high as 30%…and adding any non-factory elements will likely reduce the value even further, especially if those added elements don’t match the color and shape of the vehicle.
When you mounted the panel to your roof you had to use some sort of adhesive bonding. This is almost guaranteed to peel the paint of the car if you try to remove it. Solvents might do a better job at removing the adhesive, but will still most likely chip or bubble the paint.
Most people will have glued the panel down, but some people do mount them on boards so they can be tilted to better match the sun’s angle. This means they had to drill holes in the roof of their car and then seal around the bolts to prevent leaks. This will all but destroy the value of a car, especially if you have to remove the panel.
If you also plan to put a roof rack system on the roof of your car, it might be a good idea to do both at the same time. This will allow you to size the panels to fit within the confines of the racking system and may allow you to use the roof racks bolts to also hold your panels in place.
Will Adding Solar Panels To A Car Cause Problems?
In general, the main problem with adding solar panels to the roof of a car is that you are running wires and cables from the panel to the battery and other systems in your car. This not only has some technical complications but can also result in electric shock or fires.
You will be running these extra wires near and under carpeting which can catch fire if you’re not careful.
Another issue is that the extra load on your car battery can cause problems with the charging system and even damage the battery over time.
If you have a panel that’s too large for your car, it will put a lot of strain on the electrical system and could potentially burn out some of the components.
Electricity isn’t something that should be feared, but it definitely needs to be respected. The whole point of the solar panel is to use solar energy, but that energy has to be stored somewhere. The most common way is to use a battery, specifically a 12-volt 100 amp deep cycle battery.
This battery will have to be stowed and secured somewhere so that it won’t tip over or become a projectile if you have to brake suddenly. It’ll also need to be insulated so that no arcing or accidental touches happen. We’ve all been shocked at some point in our lives…imagine a jolt from one of these guys!
To get the most out of your solar panel you need to have it sitting in as much direct sunlight as you can, and for extended periods of time. If you live in Arizona, Texas, or anywhere else that has brutally hot temperatures, your car is going to be blazing hot when you go to drive to your next destination.
They just won’t be as efficient as you want them to be. Panels can use solar energy at around 60% efficiency, but only if getting direct sunlight. Any time spent in a parking garage or under some sort of shade will kill that efficiency. Solar panels also lose 25-30% of their efficiency if they are sitting flat on the roof of your car, all thanks to the earth shifting away from the sun throughout the day.
Solar panels, even flexible ones, aren’t that durable. If they are sitting on the roof of your car, that means not being able to use that space to mount a cargo carrier or some types of storage racks for outdoor gear.
If your car already had a racking system then you could apply the panels under and around them, but then you’ve just added something else that will block the sun’s rays from reaching the panels…chipping away at their efficiency.
The weather could also cause some problems. If you live in a snowy area you’ll have to keep the roof of your car cleared off and be extra vigilant about putting a car cover on if a hail storm in is the forecast.
Why Don’t Electric Cars Have Solar Panels?
In general, electric cars won’t usually have built-in solar panels since they remain an inefficient power supply for vehicles. The best solar panels could only give you enough energy to drive three miles and it would take at least an hour to get that level of charge.
It’s the same question and problem that prevails amongst electric car owners. Is there a way to provide more longevity and more efficient charging? Tesla Superchargers can get you back on the road in 15 minutes, with an additional 200 miles of charge.
The problem is, supercharger stations are still few and far between. It may seem as if 30,000 Supercharger stations would be more than enough, but it’s not even close to being enough. It’s difficult to plan a long drive without Supercharging stations being as prevalent as gas stations.
There are signs of hope in the solar-powered car arena. Ford, in cooperation with SunPower, was experimenting with vehicles powered by solar panels between 2010 and 2011.
Unfortunately, it never turned into something that was commercially viable enough to really take off. As solar panels improve technologically…and there have been innovations and improvements in leaps and bounds…then we may reach a point where the market can bear a solar panel vehicle.
Until then, the technology and the efficacy are both too expensive and too inefficient to make a real difference. And it’s not just gas-powered vehicles that a solar panel car would have to compete with, it’s electric vehicles as well, which make up a large slice of the market.
As of now, there are a number of reasons that solar panels still can’t make the cut when it comes to powering a vehicle in the long term.
- Technology is Expensive
- Competing Technology
- Surface Area
- Environmental Damage
Technology is Expensive
The addition of solar panels on a vehicle would run up the total cost of the vehicle to the tune of around $6,500. Not only that, but it would be $6.5 grand spent on something that would be almost negligible.
In order to get some real power, those solar panels would have to be the latest technology, superior to what is commonly manufactured on the market today. Solar panels like that would drive up the costs into the realm of absurdity.
Competing Technology
Competing technology is also problematic. The aforementioned Tesla Superchargers are growing in availability, even though they have a long way to go to reach the over 150,000 available gas stations in the U.S. alone.
However, why spend mountains of cash on a new technology that can only, vaguely promise that it might one day be as efficient as a standard car battery refueled at a supercharger station.
Surface Area
Surface area is another problem. It requires 12-acres worth of solar panels just to provide a charging station with enough power to accommodate 12 vehicles. Narrow down the ratio to a single vehicle and you’re looking at an entire acre of solar panels.
Unless they come up with a way to consolidate all of that solar capturing technology into something that would fit on the hood and roof of your car, it’s simply not feasible for the long term.
Environmental Damage
One of the most important focuses on green energy is taking care of the environment. That’s hard to market when the world is coming to understand the environmental dangers of solar panels, most of which takes place in their creation and in their degradation.
Solar panel production releases a lot of CO² as a byproduct, in addition to the harmful chemicals that go into the manufacturing process. You will also find an unhealthy dose of cadmium, lead, and arsenic in every solar panel.
It’s difficult to claim a green-energy advancement when the process, existence, and degradation life cycle of a solar panel are well known and understood by prospective buyers.
Are Their any Cars that use Solar Panels?
Unfortunately, a mainstream, fully solar-powered cars is still not readily available for the average consumer.
The Lightyear One, a prototype solar electric vehicle developed by Dutch start-up Lightyear, stood out as a significant step towards solar mobility.
The vehicle’s roof and hood were decked out with solar panels, which could supplement the car’s electric charge and offer a decent range.
Similarly, the Aptera, a three-wheeled electric vehicle from an American company, also integrated solar panels to provide additional power to the battery system.
Toyota, Hyundai, and Karma Automotive were among the larger auto manufacturers exploring solar-assisted vehicles. These vehicles use solar panels typically installed on the roof to power some accessories, like air conditioning, thus reducing the load on the battery and extending the vehicle’s electric range.
Will Solar Panels Work on any Type of Car?
Though intriguing, as of today it’s not feasible to retrofit any car with solar panels due to a variety of factors, mainly the lack of space to sufficiently install adequate solar panels.
- Limited Surface: Considering the limited surface area on a typical car, only a small number of solar panels can be installed. This means that the amount of energy generated may not be sufficient to power a car for extended periods or long distances.
- Compatibility: Electric vehicles (EVs) and some hybrid vehicles can potentially utilize solar power to some extent. However, traditional gasoline-powered cars lack the necessary components and infrastructure to convert and use solar energy, rendering the installation of solar panels ineffective.
- Not Enough Research: The installation of solar panels requires a significant investment and careful engineering to ensure they are securely fitted and able to withstand the rigors of daily driving. Simply attaching solar panels onto a conventional car would not only be technically challenging, but could also present safety issues.
Automotive manufacturers, however, are developing vehicles designed with integrated solar panels from the onset, where the panels are an integral part of the design and engineering of the vehicle. Models like the Lightyear One and the Toyota Prius with Solar Roof are examples of cars using solar energy to some extent.
Are Any Companies Developing Solar-Powered Car Technology?
Ford has been developing solar technology for vehicles for about a decade, but other companies such as Aptera Luna and Squad Mobility have also been developing prototypes in recent years.
Unfortunately, where the technology is right now, a fully solar-powered vehicle still doesn’t have a desirable cost-to-efficiency ratio.
Maybe something will happen in the next 5-10 years, but it’s hard to imagine the current offerings will go over well enough to launch a new line of solar-powered vehicles.
Why Do Solar Panels Work Better on Vans, RV’s and Campers Rather than Cars?
Vans, RVs, and campers generally have more surface area available for the installation of solar panels. The larger the surface area, the more sunlight can be harnessed and converted into electrical energy.
This enables these larger vehicles to generate more solar power than could be achieved with the limited surface area available on a conventional car.
The energy demands of vans, RVs, and campers often differ from those of regular cars. These vehicles are frequently used for camping and long trips where they may be parked in a single location for an extended period.
Solar panels can be used to power various appliances within the vehicle, such as lights, refrigerators, and other small devices, even when the vehicle is not in motion.
In contrast, a conventional car’s energy needs are primarily for propulsion, a demand that is significantly higher and more challenging for solar power to meet entirely.
The lifestyle associated with vans, RVs, and campers often involves spending considerable time outdoors in natural environments.
Owners of these vehicles are generally more inclined to invest in solar power, valuing its ability to provide a degree of energy independence, especially in remote locations where power sources may not be readily available.
Remember that while solar panels can provide auxiliary power in these vehicles, they are usually not the primary source of power for driving the vehicle. Traditional fuel or a primary battery pack, which can be charged through a power grid, often provides this.