SunPods make solar electric vehicle charging quick and easy (to install)
While solar panels are not yet efficient enough to plop down on an electric vehicle's roof and charge as you go, the idea of powering an EV with the sun is tremendously appealing. A new system called SP-300 EV Plug-N-Go by SunPods is currently being used in San Jose to collect the sun's rays for use in plug-in vehicles. SunPods are "world's first transportable, modular, integrated solar powered electric vehicle charging station, ready to power up on delivery." What this means is that solar charging is now towable, and companies could offer totally emission-free EV power on demand, without major installation issues.
The City of San Jose, where the SunPods are made, is testing one SP-300 EV Plug-N-Go unit. The device connects to the grid and could be used by utilities to get solar power when there's no vehicle attached. The SunPod also has a battery to store solar power when there is no demand for it. If needed, the SP-300 can also power the EV from the grid. SunPods president and co-founder Dan Jaeger said in a statement that, "It just didn't make sense for us to power electric cars with electricity produced by burning coal and other carbon based fuels and make a positive environmental difference. All you are doing is trading gasoline for coal, not a good idea." While he's right that solar > coal to charge an EV, the inherent efficiency of an electric car over an ICE vehicle does mean that there is a strong argument to be made for trading gasoline for coal (as an interim step, at the very least).
This isn't the first trailer-based electric vehicle idea we've seen, but it is up and running today, which is more than we can say for NuTech.
[Source: SunPods via Autopia]
PRESS RELEASE:
Solar powered electric vehicle charging station by SunPods Inc. unveiled with the City of San Jose.
San Jose CA. SunPods announced today the first public demonstration of their revolutionary SunPods' EV Plug-N-GoTM Solar Powered EV Charging System. The world's first transportable, modular, integrated solar powered electric vehicle charging station, ready to power up on delivery.
The SunPods SP-300 EV Plug-N-Go designed specifically for companies, institutions and public agencies that need an instant solar powered infrastructure solution for on- road electric vehicles (EV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and electrical industrial utility vehicles. The SunPods EV Plug-N-Go deploys rapidly, building a lasting green power infrastructure solution for today's electrical powered vehicles.
Built with SunPods' advanced Solar Smart TechnologiesTM and designed as a solar appliance. The SunPods SP-300 EV Plug-N-Go is pre-engineered, pre-manufactured, and pre-tested in a rigorous factory setting for optimal performance and delivered from our factory to your site, on your schedule, requiring minimal site preparation and no on- site assembly. SunPods are ready to interconnect and power up on delivery, requiring only an electrician to make the connections.
"We appreciate the City of San Jose for their support in setting up this solar powered EV charging station demonstration and providing the PHEV car and their continued support to Cleantech startups in San Jose and the goals the City set towards growing a green environment and the Cleantech jobs the City is helping to create", says Michael Gumm, one of SunPods co-founders.
According to Dan Jaeger, president and co-founder of SunPods, "it just didn't make sense for us to power electric cars with electricity produced by burning coal and other carbon based fuels and make a positive environmental difference. All you are doing is trading gasoline for coal, not a good idea. The core idea behind SunPods is to make solar power simple and easy to use anywhere and to displace fossil based energy with non-carbon, clean renewable solar power".
SunPods SP-300 EV Plug-N-Go modular, integrated solar power platforms are engineered for both on-grid and off-grid installations. In one configuration, the SunPods SP-300 net-meters solar power to the grid, offsetting carbon based grid power. In another design, the SP-300 equipped using the latest battery systems provides optimal power storage and buffering between the electrical vehicle and utility grid.
The SP-300 is a bi-directional system, allowing power input and output with both solar and grid connected power sources. Smart Grid capable, as grid connections become Smart Grid enabled, utilities will be able to access and manage the SunPods stored energy at peak demand times.
About SunPods, Inc
SunPods is the innovator and manufacturer of SunPods Solar Smart Technology Systems. SunPods, the world's first solar appliance are transportable, the first factory to project, modular solar power platforms for permanent placement. SunPods power up on arrival, no assembly needed and only require an electrical hookup from the inverter to power up
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
paulwesterberg 3:10PM (10/14/2009)
I want standardized solar panels with built in inverters that I can install myself and plug in to my house. Sell standardized sun tracking mounts separately.
That way I could install a few panels whenever I have some extra cash.
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fnc 3:19PM (10/14/2009)
I like that idea too, allow people to take a pay-as-you-go modular do-it-yourself approach. My guess, however, is that such an eventuality would be legislated and regulated into impossibility before it even got off the ground.
paulwesterberg 3:40PM (10/14/2009)
Enphase has been working on micro inverters to allow easy installation, and it seems you can actually buy them now, but they are still expensive and I am not sure what panels they work best with.
http://www.enphaseenergy.com/products/ourtechnology.cfm
TI is also working on microinverters, but they don't have any on the market yet.
I don't have any connection to Enphase or TI, but I am looking forward to reading an instructable on how to install your own PV system.
skierpage 7:14PM (10/14/2009)
No electric company will let you hook do-it-yourself panels up to the grid. You could kill one of their workers, short out the neighborhood, start a fire...
So when you "install a few panels" you'll have to directly plug appliances into them. There are lots of articles on doing it, e.g. http://www.off-grid.net/2005/10/10/600-gets-your-house-on-solar-power/ for $600. If you're going to go that way, maybe skip the AC inverter and buy efficient DC appliances developed for the RV/marine/backwoods off-grid lifestyle. Good luck!
skierpage 8:58PM (10/14/2009)
Heh, I should have read about Enphase before replying. Each solar panel with their microinverter plugs into a regular AC circuit and "AC power then travels upstream through an ordinary branch circuit to the service panel". They still recommend a qualified electrician install it, I think you'll still need the electric company to set up net metering, but after that maybe you could indeed just add additional panels yourself. It's an interesting approach.
Larzen 3:35PM (10/14/2009)
Is all that layout for just one outlet?
Re: "Modular" comments. It might happen in a perfect world, but the CiC wants
the Marxist Van Jones, ACORN, & SEIU to do all installations at Union wages. That cuts
you out.
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Ernie 3:49PM (10/14/2009)
Probably. It takes a lot of solar power to make 240 V at say, 20 amps, which is about the same consumption as your clothes dryer.
Ernie 3:46PM (10/14/2009)
Dan Jaeger of SunPods said: "All you are doing is trading gasoline for coal, not a good idea"
Thanks Dan for spreading misinformation in your own interest. Please note that most states aren't getting 100% of their power from coal, so that it's somewhere between a little bit of an improvement and a lot, depending largely on where you live.
However, thank you for being a lot of an improvement.
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Bip-D-Bo 4:03PM (10/14/2009)
Transportable? Great! Can that be towed by a Nissan Leaf or will it need a diesel gulping semi?
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kert 6:09PM (10/14/2009)
"While solar panels are not yet efficient enough to plop down on an electric vehicle's roof and charge as you go"
They will never be. Even a theoretical lightweight thin-film, 99% efficient multi-junction cell will never do that, the energy flux simply isnt there to propel a regular sedan at highway speed. It takes around 20-25KW to do that.
You are not going to get that kind of power from any type of solar cells.
Yes, if you built the "cars" differently, with very low drag body and low rolling resistance, one or two person tandem seats only etc, you could have something. But not your regular old sedans.
It would work ( and already does work ) in aviation and on sea though, planes and boats have way bigger surface area available to collect solar energy.
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matte 5:04AM (10/15/2009)
in Sweden, the average insolation is 1060 kWh/m2 per year.
Counting on 0.2 kWh/km average, and a car roof surface of 2square meters, that means you can go a less than 10 000km/year ~ 6000 US miles/year.
It isn't all impossible if you only go 3000 miles or less per year ;)
(Ofc, in Sweden, or Canada, you wouldn't be able to use the car anywhere near as much in the winter as in the summer whereas in LA you could use it more)
skierpage 7:02PM (10/14/2009)
The picture looks like two of their 12-panel units. No price anywhere; I'd guess much more than $25,000. Their web site says " SunPod Units can vary from 2.4 to 2.7-kw depending on the modules used". That's the absolute maximum on a sunny day, perpendicular sunlight at noon.
SunPods can get economy of scale by making a ready-to-go self-supporting system in a factory, instead of contractors wiring panels and electronics together on-site. If you have six unused south-facing parking spaces (!!) this might be cheaper overall. But if your SunPod is independent of the power grid that means that when it's not charging the car the generated electricity goes to waste, unless you significantly increase the price by adding stationary batteries. Once you connect to the grid the electric company will have to come out and certify the connection, so portability goes away. Also panel theft is more of a worry at ground level. To their credit SunPods has thought about all these issues, they seem more real than damn hippies working out of their basement.
It'll work for some situations, but I suspect most people will find it cheaper to put solar panels on a nearby south-facing roof hooked to the power grid.
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letstakeawalk 8:57PM (10/14/2009)
I'd presonally love to have solar PVs on my house. I live in an ideal location with a southern facing roof in a sunny climate. I even have investments in Asola, which manufactures panels.
Unfortunately, I cannot have PVs. My city, and the local Board of Architectural Review, alsong with the Historic Foundation which owns a preservation easment on my home, will not allow me to attach anything to my roof. I suppose that's OK, because it would be awfully hard to keep them clean, and then there's always the risk of damage during the tropical storm and hurricane season.
I'm about to replace my HVAC and my water heater, and I'm seriously considering the Freewatt units that use Honda's Fuel Cell CHP. I'd be making my own 1.2 KW of electricity - even at night when there's no sun for the panels - and making my own hot water and heat.
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Brent 12:51AM (10/15/2009)
Cost?
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