Toyota secretly developing solar powered car.

I figure that with three of us in the EV, crossing the bridge should be a net money-maker for us!

Oooh. He'd be so proud that you think so highly of him. He's a rescue mut from our local SPCA. His mom was mostly Queensland Healer (judging only by the looks) and dad was never found. He's 11 now, and we've had him his whole life.

I wish... but I don't hold the copyright.

This totally depends on how you define efficient in this case. You've paid for the PV. You pay for the extra weight and air resistance of having on you car - even when you drive at night, in shadows, etc. I still contend that there is NO practical reason to attempt to supply your traction power with PV directly on the vehicle. It doesn't pencil out in energy credit, or financial credit.

 

I can get Sanyo 1.2 kW panels (200watts x 6) plus the inverter for $9,117.48 shipped. With $500 installation and 30% Federal and 25% New York State tax credits, the final cost came out to around $5k.

 

But the total cost of the system to you and the community is $9600 installed.

 

If the non neutered option is taken the organic components may replace themselves over time.

 

Yes. In the mind. In perception. In market acceptance. In customer demand for better technology.

This is related to why JavaJunki and I buy organic food at Costco. Yes, we can, and do, buy a lot of our groceries at the local Farmer's Market, and the local food co-op, but we also "vote with our dollars" at places like Costco. If I buy organic peanut butter at Costco, then there is a market demand for organic peanut butter. If I only buy my peanut butter at the co-op, then Costco will not have that demand, and may stop bothering to stock organic peanut butter. Why is it important that Costco stocks organic peanut butter? Because as food producers realize profit in growing and packaging organic food, the damage to the environment and to the health of every person on the planet lessens. Costco is big enough to make a significant impact on agriculture. The impact it makes should be a positive one. I will invest a bit in that outcome.

So, take that to car ownership. If I buy any old small car, based on fuel economy (small, used car with decent MPG), waiting to buy a new vehicle until the ultimate, perfect, EV super car arrives, there is no market pressure for it. If I buy a good hybrid, then the car manufacturers feel the market pressure... hey, there's money in saving the planet, let's do it some more. When friends and family see how much we love our hybrid, they are more likely to consider one for themselves... thus more pressure on the market. As more people see more and more people buying and driving hybrids, the market pressure tips towards those kinds of cars. In order to keep making money, car makers put money towards R&D on better cars of the same sort that people are buying, so that those people will trade up. What will we trade up to... that's right, EVs.

Yes, electric cars have a very long history. Unfortunately, the general mass of car buyers did not put market pressure on car makers to develop them, produce them in quantity, and keep improving them... until now.

 

First, I am an electrical engineer, complete with degree and job(s)!!! So ask away, I'll explain what I can.

Second, your thought about powering the drivetrain while under an overpass or in a tunnel or such is very good, but it isn't what I meant. What I meant was a real technical thing (a dynamic instability) where very efficient PV / power electronic systems can go into kind of a self-damaging oscillating mode if they are not stabilized. Two of the best ways to stabilize these systems are to add a battery to the system or to add a large capacitor. Generally there's a special control system with software. I assume the Prius has all this, the problem is not unique to photovoltaics.

Without getting into the math, which would take a long time, that's what I was talking about. The issue you raised makes the battery a better solution than a capacitor.

Road Fan.