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Comment on World’s first off-road solar car ‘Stella Terra’ succeeds in cruising from Morocco to the Sahara

It’s not that it’s far-fetched. It’s just impractical. Solar panels don’t really generate that much power per square foot. Charging a car with just the roof can take days.

One model of solar roofed electric car on the market recharges ~20 miles per day with the roof.

Charging stations are a way better idea for road trips in electric cars, as is plugging the car in overnight. This is great for a remote hermit, but more interesting for the hack value than a practical option.

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JustMy2c@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Since the car stands still most of the day, some kind of system that folds out into multiple solar panels may be interesting, offering shade as well

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- Aatube@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  That may be awful for urban scenarios such as parking lots
  
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  - Takumidesh@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    It could unfold front to back, covering the hood and the trunk, taking up no more space than the car itself.
    
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    JustMy2c@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Or like that umbrella solar system. Or even adaptable to available space. Obviously works best when camping
    
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sizzler@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
It protects the car, it’s a way for the greater battery drain an electric car probably has to be offset. It’s like carrying around and extra tank of fuel. It could genuinely save lives whilst electric cars develop. Soo many reasons yes vs weight gain.

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- abhibeckert@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Light weight panels tend to produce less power. The best ones are opaque and have a thick glass layer on both sides of the circuitry.
  
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abhibeckert@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

One model of solar roofed electric car on the market recharges ~20 miles per day with the roof.

Um, this one gets about 500 miles of range from a single day of sunlight.

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- Pipoca@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I’m not sure that it does. All the articles I can find word it as something like “has a range of 710 kilometers (441 miles) on a sunny day.”, without actually explaining it. I’m assuming that’s going from 100% charge to 0% charge, plus all the range gained by charging during the day.
  
  They don’t actually say anywhere I can find how quickly it charges.
  
  Also, looking up some other articles about it, apparently there’s a bunch of extra fold-out solar panels in the trunk
  
  If you wanted maximum range, you’d start before dawn, drive most of your battery away, park somewhere all day to use that solar awning for all its worth, then continue driving at dusk.
  
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_s10e@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
It’s also a way for people who regularly travel less than 20 miles (if this number is correct).

Most device consume more power than you can realiable get from solar on the device. You can’t power a cellphone from a back-mounted solar cell nor run a car from a solar roof alone.

But don’t make the mistake to assume that everyone has (cheap) power at home or that everyone has a (suburban) home. Photovoltaic is cheap and reliable. And you need space, so it makes sense to put solar everywhere.

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