Adding Solar Panels To Electric Vehicle

An early prius with a solar panel only used it to power a fan to keep the car cool on hot days.

Adding solar panels to electric vehicle.

808 miles of electricity at home prices is worth about 22 or 6 cents day. First there were solar electric vehicles which nrel even used for their ev test car. But if ford can find a way to commercialize this solar c max energi it would be the first ev to actually move from its own internal solar power system. There are complications to overcome.

Your solar panel system could be undersized to begin with or you might have increased your electricity usage since installation due to new additions to your house new appliances or adding an electric. The cost of solar is falling rapidly and companies from tesla to nissan are manufacturing electric cars for your daily use. By charging your car from your own solar pv system integrated into your home you can save even more money on your driving costs whilst further reducing your carbon footprint by using your own produced 100 green solar energy. Even if you plan on buying an electric car two or three years down the road you will want to plan your solar project with that taken into account because it can have impacts on the type of inverter and number of panels you will need.

But early analyses in california indicated as many as four in 10 electric car drivers were already using or considering the addition of home solar panels to generate electricity. Some vehicles such as a high end version of the nissan leaf have used solar panels on top of the car to power certain functions such as the computer system. To efficiently charge an electric vehicle using solar panels you will also have to install a home charging unit and a pv inverter unit that converts the solar energy into dc current for the vehicle. Solar panels are a cost effective way to fuel your electric car and may require anywhere from 6 to 12 solar panels.

At 3 500 for a 215 watt system you can probably do the math based on our calculations above for the prius it s likely not cost effective. Driving an electric car is about driving greener with a lower carbon footprint and lower financial running costs. There are several of these systems available for purchase already but no dedicated standalone solar panel car charger is available yet. Generally it s almost impossible to add any meaningful power to an electric vehicle using solar since there s not enough surface to install solar cells in order to supply the power needed to.

Over the last few years rumors of kits to add solar panels to power your ev have come and gone. The question of hot days.