Sweden is testing a semi-truck trailer covered in 100 square meters of solar panels

Comments

• Robin@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Rough estimate of 72 cell panels at 2m² and 500W per panel puts this at a peak performance of 25kw. More than twice the average home installation.

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  • DoomBot5@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Yes, but also much less efficient due to the angles. These panels are either completely flat or completely vertical. Ideal conditions have them facing south at an angle.

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  • jonne@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I feel like it could be great for running cooling systems on trailers and stuff like that, not sure if it would be worth the hassle for adding range.

    Even on a purposely designed solar car like the lightyear one it really only works because they used all the weight saving and aero tricks possible, which you can’t really do with a truck that’s supposed to haul cargo.

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    • variaatio@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yeah. the one good use I see is reefer trailers. Since some times they have to sit long times, with still the coolers running to keep the cargo within demanded thermal limits to keep the cold cycle uninterrupted.

      Most cooling is obviously needed when it is hot… so in summer and thus sung light time. So the panels would probably nicely run the coolers instead of having a fuel burning generator keeping the coolers going.

      During winter, when there is no light. Well it’s probably cold enough ambient the reefer isn’t using lot of cooling anyway.

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    • Valmond@lemmy.mindoki.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yeah but we’re talking 100 square metres here, that could make a significant difference.

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    • zoe@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      20kwc capacity: nice also add 20kwh lithium storage at 200kg weight and it could help in few instances like cooling perishable cargo or driver’s cabin when engine shut off, but definitely not to expand range

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• ElectricCattleman@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Putting solar on moving vehicles makes no sense except for very specific use cases.

  Install those same panels on the ground and you can point them at a good angle for sunlight capture, don’t have to literally carry the weight of them everywhere, don’t have to worry about them getting dirty all the time from moving around winter roads, and are much easier to repair.

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  • Taringano@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I’m not a solarogist, but how do you capture sunlight 24/7?

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    • ElectricCattleman@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Oops 🙊 you know what I mean though.

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    • kionite231@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Put solar panels on a vehical and move it around the globe xD

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    • ugjka@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      bet on moonshine

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    • _apokalipto_@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Solar panels on one side, lunar panels on the other! Boom! Free electricity 24/7!

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    • Noodle07@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      It’s Sweden, it works weird

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  • kent_eh@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    It makes more sense than solar roads.

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    • n0m4n@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Solar ditches make more sense.

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  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Pretty sure these solar panels aren’t just your regular residential or commercial building panels. They are specially made for this purpose.

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    • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Those don’t exist.

      Amount of power that can be generated is dictated by the angle to the Sun. You need to be perpendicular. Panels on the ground can slowly move and rotate to kind of track the sun. Or you put a bunch of mirrors and make a tower made of solar panels.

      Solar panels on roof tend to be fixed infrastructure. You get what you get.

      So if they apply panels to a vehicle you have two options. Flat or angled.

      If they’re flat and the only time you’re ever going to get the maximum amount of power from them is during noon when the sun is directly above your vehicle. If angled that means the height of the vehicle has changed and they direction that they work is very dictated. If they track the Sun then they’re probably going to waste more power than they can ever produce by constantly moving because you’re on a vehicle that’s constantly moving.

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• AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  It’ll help a little in the long summer days. In the winter, when it’s mostly dark, removing the panels to save weight may be a good idea.

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• luthis@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  So it seems they might cover a weeks travel assuming 1000km per day. I wonder how much extra weight this would add, and if it’s significant compared to the extra weight of the battery and cargo.

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• pikmeir@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  It’s free real estate.

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• Mnemnosyne@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I swear it seems like some of these harebrained schemes must be being created by people who want solar to fail so that they can point at the failure when the dumb idea doesn’t work.

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• FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I’m guessing it won’t be driving to Lapland this winter.

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• 1984@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Good idea, it’s wasted space anyway so may as well use it.

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  • nous@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    It is also added cost, added weight and complexity. It is only a good idea when those factors are outweighed by the benefits it brings - which is increased range? Or would it be better to put those solar pannels in stations alongside the road where trucks can go and charge up again? Then you can better place the panels to make more effective use of the sun rather than only having maybe half of the facing the sun at a time.

    There are trade offs to everything and even if it is just wasted space does not make it a viable solution. We have seen foolish tests before - like the various companies trying to put solar panels under roads which has been a utter failure every single time they have tried - expensive, less efficient, and quickly needs to be replaced due t all the ware. Vs doing the saner thing and putting them above the traffic or in car park roofs…

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    • 1984@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Sure but why would you assume it’s not taken into account?

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• Vahenir@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I could see this working for either running cooling and such for refrigerated cargo or if they stick a battery in the trailer. In the latter case it would be possible to just charge it for free while the trailer sits in a lot somewhere. Then when the truck comes they plug in the battery and use the stored up power.

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• zoe@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  20kwc capacity: nice

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