Solar-Power-Augmented Prius Takes the Grid Out of “Plug-inâ€

I wouldn't mind a funny-looking roof if it'd help the MPGs and morons would leave it alone...

 

Re: Solar-Power-Augmented Prius Takes the Grid Out of “Plug-

I remember reading once that it takes more energy to produce a photovoltaic cell then the cell could produce in it's lifetime.

That statement is probably 10 years out of date, so it's likely no longer true, but I wonder what the production energy vs. generated energy relationship is now.

 

10% efficient solar panels are quite old now. For example, SunPower A300 cells are more than 20% efficient. Replacing his cells with these would double his energy collection and his gas savings.

Putting 5m2 of these on a Prius is enough to collect 5kWh per day, or about 20 miles worth less gas usage every day (averaged over the year, it would be much more in summer, much less in winter).

 

is this good for highway driving? i mean.. im thinking of the issue of AERODYNAMICS as well as PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL BEING SPLATTERED ALL OVER INTERSTATE i-70

 

Hmm. OK, so it'd need a clear, strong, aerodynamic cover to protect it and protect other drivers. Perhaps not the lightest roof attachment once solidly designed...

 

He doesn't charge the hybrid battery when the car is off, but he does charge his extra lead-acid batteries when the car is off. The lead acid batteries are then used to charge the hybrid battery when the car is on.

The article says he can send up to 2 Amps continuously to the hybrid battery, which at 300 Volts is 600 Watts. However his solar panels only produce 270 Watts. Therefore the energy collected by his solar panels (and stored in the lead acid batteries) when the car is off can be transferred to the hybrid battery when the car is on, at a rate greater than the solar panels are recharging the lead acid batteries. So the energy collected while sitting in parking lot can indeed be transfered to the hybrid battery once the car is started.

 

Being able to use next-gen nano photo paint to cover the whole car, or at least most of the sunlit portions would have to produce at least a rather noticeable amount of energy. At my work I get there just as the sun is coming up and park there all day, living in the desert I sould see a great improvement in mpg.

 

Actually that is not true, you produce more power from solar cells in the dead of winter than the summer. I should know, I have a system on my house that produces about 65 kwh on a good day in February and only about 53 on a typical summer day. The reason for this is that the panels are much more efficient when they are very cold, even though there are fewer hours of sun and the sun is at a much lower angle. I did not know this till I installed the system either.

 

Interesting. It'll be better if you can charge your Prius using your solar panels at home during the night, and the solar panel on roof at work. So you get a Plug-in PV Prius, or PPVP!

 

Wait a second -- what am I missing here? Don't know about where you live, but where I live we don't have sun at night to be able to use solar panels with!

 

What?! No sun at night? Then use a flash light!
lol, I should be more clear. I meant the solar energy you accumulate in the day to charge the car at night. Or if you live around the poles, you can disregard my explanation. :wink:

 

I was just having some fun with you. Actually the way the PV system works is that it is tied to the grid and uses what is called net metering. Just like average citizens are confused that you don't plug hybrids in, most people assume the PV systems use storage batteries. While they can, that is an expensive wasteful implementation. I grid-tied system supplies your needs during the day and any extra power is fed back through your electric meter onto the utility grid - spinning your meter backwards to credit you with the excess power you generate. At night you just pull power off the grid in the normal manner. While this system will not produce power when there is a power outage, it is far cheaper to install a backup generator in addition to the solar array rather than tying the array to a battery system.

 

I certainly did not know that about a PV system. Thx for the info.

 

So the power grid is your "battery". You can still charge a plug-in Prius at night using the power generated during the day by you PV cells. Your power meter runs backwards during the day, "charging" your "battery", and that energy is retrieved at night to charge a plug-in Prius.

 

so if i read this thread correctly, with more efficient panels we are looking at a possible 50% increase in mpg's with the better panels?

how much would you pay to get 100 mpg as opposed to 60? now most probably cant do this, but i would pay a lot for that chance. i never bought the Prius because i thought i would save money on gas. (remember i bought my car when gas was only $1.50 and going down...) so my return on investment is a moot point.

getting the word out is more than worth it for me. i am proud to say that after 14 months, i have finally talked one person at work into a Prius and am literally inches away from talking another into it also. so hopefully, that will make 3...*SIGH* out of 800... well its a start

 

Yup.

Somebody has posted a picture of the PV-Prius over at GreenHybrid!

http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/gen-1-p...boost.3191.html.

Not quite as neat an install as this one! ..but still BIG respect for Steve Lapp, who's showing the big auto companies what can be done. 8)