New Solar Panels for Hybrid Cars Improve MPG

[Broken External Image]:http://www.solatecllc.com/thumbnaiil/Solar-Prius-front-view_small.jpg

 

[Broken External Image]:http://www.solatecllc.com/images orig/Prototype 3.jpg

That's pretty cool, but I wish I can afford that.

Edit: added the picture

 

From http://www.solatecllc.com/products.htm, I got the following specs,

Solar Panel Specifications:
Panel Thickness: 0.6mm
Flexibility: Conforms to the contour of the vehicle.
Adhesive Strength and Durability: Rated for aircraft use
Manufacturer Rated Output Voltage: 18 Volts
Manufacturer Rated Output Current: 30 watts (2 panels)
Miles Per Gallon Improvement: Four Season analysis pending
Benefit is immediately seen on the Prius on-board fuel mileage display.

The rated output voltage is 18V? Doesn't sound like it charges the HV battery, unless they step that up somehow.

 

If it has a benefit, it's proabably to run the Aux Systems (all the miscellaneous 12V stuff) without drawing down the HV battery.

I can see a (probably slight) benefit to sitting in traffic with the Aux systems not loading the HV.

I would assume it would also keep up the 12V charge if you left it at the airport parking lot for a month.

 

Hmm that's pretty interesting. Wonder how fast the cost will go down on that. On a side note, I really like how it looks like racing stripes.

 

well, i think its a good first step, really. For someone who spends a lot of time in say, houston traffic, I can imagine it actually helping. it looks nice, and has a fairly low cost - i can't really see it working for me, but it's a good step in the right direction.

I bet we'll see similarly priced (I like the 10% of the car cost price point a lot) options for the HV battery in the future. I hope people who CAN make use of this unit support them, and provide valuable feedback for perfecting it for the rest of us.

 

I was thinking the same thing. You could even put a pair on the hood.

 

efusco, what kind of diseases do you specialize in?

 

The concept makes sense. There's lots of equipment running off 12V - the power for that is coming from the inverter. If you can supply power to those circuits from solar panels, then less power will come from the inverter.

However, 30 watts really isn't that much power, compared to what the car itself uses. Guessing the Prius' efficiency to be something around 200Wh/km (probably correct within a factor of 2, given its size), then cruising at say 50km/h, you're consuming something like 10000W average. 30W is not going to make much of a dent. But on the other hand, it IS continuous - power will keep flowing when you're stationery, and presumably parked.

But will it help much when parked? There's presumably not much scope to store extra energy in the 12V battery for later use - it'll normally be "full" anyway, after driving for a bit, surely? I suppose it'll keep it topped up, so it doesn't need any recharging when you start, at least.

Now, if this could charge the main battery while parked, it would potentially make much more of a difference.

 

It would have to look pretty cool. My back of the envelope calculation Indicates gas would have to be about $7.33/gallon to justify the cost.

150,000 miles @ 50 mpg = 3000 gallons of gas

Less 10% and you save 300 gallons.

$2200 price for kit is abot $7.33.

It may be able to charge the high voltage battery if the battery can be partitioned into banks for charging. I guess the danger would be asymetric charging which could possibly lead to an overcharge of some of the banks, which could damage them.

Still its good to see people are working on extending the milage for the car.

 

I would pay the expense if there was say, a 20 mpg improvement - and it assisted the regen aspect in such a way that, coupled with an EV switch, you could "almost" minimize ICE use.

or would that be way off base to the intention?

In any case, I can see this technology heading in the right direction.

 

thanks!

 

Lithium? No. Unless you have the EnergyCS kit.
.
Please see http://www.robintree.com/prius/startup.html for support
of the idea that the 12V system has to supply between 300 and 400
watts, depending on how much lighting and accessories are in use.
An ideal 8-hour day of 30 watts harnessed from sunlight gives you
enough energy to run the computers and coolant pumps and such for
maybe 45 minutes. Or to push the car about a mile under ideal
conditions, if the energy went to the HV battery instead.
.
The correct place to collect enough solar to make a difference is
outboard of the car, with wiring to connect it up. But the car
really isn't able to *store* enough energy to do it justice without
extra traction batteries.
.
_H*

 

I agree that the HV needs the charge and that an EV switch would be needed to get the full benefit.
IE, on your way to work, you go EV the last portion so that you run down the battery. Then by the time you leave, the HV is charged again!
That could allow a pretty good jump in MPG. Unless its bitterly cold as it is now in MN!
One other thought: What if the HV gets fully charged, where would the energy go then? Could you program it so that the excess was used to heat or cool the car while your away?

 

I had photovoltaic panels on my 1991 Toyota 4Runner that kept the 12V battery topped off ($39 per panel). The PV panels were hard-wired to the 12V battery. This current effort falls severely short of what is needed.

The hood, roof and rear deck should be full PV. All side windows should be of the type that are photovoltaic panels, but you can see through them. With noncrystalline PV, and volume production, the cost should come w-a-y down. These should be standard on every vehicle, not just hybrids and electrics.