Putting a solar roof on your Prius - go 20 miles on battery power
You won't be able to cross the country in a solar powered Prius, but this type of aftermarket hack is exactly the kind of thing so many of our readers have been asking for. Solar Electrical Vehicles says their solar panel modifications (made from mono-crystalline photovoltaic cells) for 2004-2006 Prius models will generate 215 watts of renewable energy that charges a 3kW supplemental battery pack that "provides up to 20 miles per day of electric mode driving range and increased fuel economy." SEV says their system qualifies for up to $2,000 worth of Federal renewable energy tax credits which will then make the whole system pay for itself in two or three years. A solar roof for your Prius will cost between $2,000 and $4,000.
[Source: Solar Electrical Vehicles via Treehugger]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
David 6:14PM (8/18/2008)
Just imagine of you had a solar shed you could plug this into so you don't use any energy from your house. The solar shed could charge a battery that could in turn charge the car when you get home from work, especially if you get home late like i do.
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barry 2:42PM (5/11/2009)
although this is a great concept don't you think its a bit of a half arsed attempt, you've got a thin and flexible solar panel, so why put it on such a small space, at the very least, the panel go all the way down to the back, rear vision could be sorted with a small camera if the back windscreen was covered also and why would you not put panels on the bonnet, a big are like that. if it was me, I'd paint these cars the same blue as the solar panels and put the panels on every possible piece of the car as possible, areas like the doors which are a large area, and with all this when your at your work unless you commute 80 miles to your work or something then your car will be charged enough to get you home. as for night charging, I'd be trying some kind of vertical axis wind turbine that you can connect on quick that clicks in place or perhaps raises up from inside the car james bond style to get power at night.
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Drewboy 7:08PM (5/31/2007)
I think this is an awesome concept! The only thing that I'm thinking about as an insurance agent, is that the roof is particularly vulnerable to hail damage.
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Ron Fischer 8:30PM (5/31/2007)
From the white paper on their website its a 3kWHr lead-acid battery recharged by the panel at a (maximum full sun) rate of 250W. To get 3,000 watt hours you'd need 6 hours of full sun. Factor in sun angle, number of hours of sunlight per day, etc. The lead-acid battery charges the NiMH pack on the Prius.
http://www.solarelectricalvehicles.com/articles/prius-white-paper.shtml
No price shown on website that I could find.
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L. Gordon 8:37AM (6/01/2007)
6 hours isn't too bad - car could charge up while at work for the drive home. Might not be charged up for the drive in to work unless you do a plug-in on this too.
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John Rowell 12:14AM (6/01/2007)
I saw this car at the Alt Car Expo last December. Really a clever concept. I can just imagine this scaled up a wee bit and applied to 18-wheelers. Imagine how many solar panels you could fit on a tractor-trailor o.O
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GreyFlcn 10:51AM (6/01/2007)
Well it would only make sense to have it have a plugin feature.
But yeah wow, the potential of this as solar takes off could be pretty huge when combined with plugin tech.
Might not even need a "series plugin hybrid" if this works well.
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