Why Don’t We Put Solar Panels On Cars?

Have you ever wondered why we can’t just mount solar panels on the roofs of automobiles to provide them with even more clean and convenient fuel than today’s plug-in electric vehicles? For many years, engineers have been working on this problem.

The primary stumbling block has been that solar panels scaled on top of a car would be insufficiently strong, efficient, or big enough to power the vehicle. Additionally, the cost has proven to be excessive for commercial viability. Also, it has been observed that solar energy does not meet enough energy requirements to run a commercial car.

Concept of Solar Panel

However, the notion of solar panels automobiles does have one practical use in the actual world. Furthermore, this is true for 4X4 camping vehicles, which are often equipped with a solar panel installed on the top.

That panel may trickle charge the vehicle’s battery (or batteries; many off-road 4X4s include an additional 12-volt battery), allowing the onboard refrigerator to operate for extended periods while camping. Some property owners choose to employ a movable solar panel for this purpose, which will enable them to move the panel into direct sunlight as the Sun moves across the sky during daylight hours.

In terms of charging an electric car, although solar panels are excellent at what they do, they would take considerably longer than those 90 hours, instead of the few hours or even minutes that a high voltage charging station can accomplish.

Some automobile owners have installed small solar panels on the roofs of their vehicles to trickle-charge the batteries while the cars are parked. However, as you park in a garage, in the shade, or on a gloomy day, the advantage is no longer available. So this concept has minimal usage.

The second use of solar panels for automobiles may be seen through a practical example in the vehicles participating in the Solar Challenge, which takes every two years and travels from Adelaide to Darwin over 3000 kilometers across the Australian desert (Covid permitting).

They must operate entirely on solar power; thus, their bodies are covered with panels. The remainder of the vehicle is designed to reduce drag and friction while increasing efficiency as much as possible.

They are not practical, but they allude to a future in which solar panels on vehicle tops would be an option you can choose when ordering a new electric car from a dealership.

Ford’s way of concept

On the other hand, Ford has recently moved a step closer to turning this pipe dream into a reality. In Las Vegas this week for the annual International CES technology conference, Ford will present a concept car powered by solar panels on the roof of its C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, which will be unveiled this week (EV).

In 2013, Ford sold around 7,000 units of the non-solar plug-in C-Max Energi, which I had the pleasure of test driving last summer and found very enjoyable.

Last week, Mike Tinskey, Ford’s worldwide head of vehicle electrification, said that the company explored the solar car roof concept because solar cells are often more efficient than a few years ago.

According to Tinskey, Ford and SunPower collaborated on developing a solar concentrator array for this prototype car that multiplies solar energy eight times. They believe that this prototype will significantly help convert enough energy to commercial usage of the cars.

However, the technology is still not fully optimized, nor can the manufacturer thoroughly comment on its success.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Cars

On the roof of these eco-friendly automobiles are solar panels or photovoltaic cells, which are powered by batteries made of nickel-metal hydride, nickel-cadmium, lithium-ion, or lithium polymer.

Semiconductor photovoltaic panels use the Sun’s energy to liberate electrons, resulting in an electric current that drives the battery. The solar battery can store the surplus energy generated during a bright day and utilize it at night or on a cloudy day when the Sun isn’t shining.

Every coin has two faces; there is a tail to the coin for every head. In the same case, solar cars have advantages and disadvantages attached to them.

Advantages of Solar Cars

• Driving Comfort: Faster and more comfortable to go because of their aluminum and lightweight components, solar-powered automobiles outperform gasoline and diesel counterparts. The driving comfort further becomes the plus point of the solar cars over other cars.
• Eco-friendly and Quiet: Solar-powered cars are environmentally friendly and quiet since they don’t use nonrenewable resources or burn gasoline. The power generated by the electric motors is free of any pollutants or greenhouse emissions. Vehicles fueled by traditional fuels are noisier than those propelled by electric motors.
• No Fuel Costs: there is negligible fuel expense with solar automobiles and a minimal maintenance cost, unlike conventionally fuelled vehicles. Since solar cars aren’t operated on fuel, fuel costs are saved, and sunlight eliminates fuel expenses, a necessity for solar cars.
• Energy Availability: As the Sun constantly shines, solar automobiles get their electricity from the Sun and unlimited energy supply. The more efficient solar panels allow the car to generate and store more horsepower. It’s a universal fact that the Sun will always shine, and so is the use of solar cars. The daily or most of the time availability of the Sun results in the constant use of solar cars.

Despite having so many advantages, solar cars have a lot of disadvantages that make them unfit to be used as solar cars. However, it’s possible to manufacture a solar car; the disadvantages are always commercially not a successful product.

Disadvantages of Solar Car

• Energy Storage Capacity: Photovoltaic cells or solar panels may convert 15-30% of sunlight into energy, depending on the material used, which is quite restricted and points out another con of solar cars.
• Design Challenge: Solar cars must have a big roof surface area for mounting solar panels, minimal wind resistance, and little room for two people as a design challenge. Hence, the design challenge of solar cars is the foremost disadvantage that a company and even a customer may face while manufacturing and buying, respectively.
• Expensive Batteries: The efficient solar panels and batteries and replacements are prohibitively costly since they often must be replaced. It is why solar cars are so expensive, and hence become the other disadvantages of the solar cars, making the cars’ prices super high.
• Poor Practicality: There are no wiper blades, headlights, or rearview mirrors in these eco-friendly vehicles, making them ineffective for driving. It’s essential to pay attention to suspension and chassis robustness and steering, brakes, secure solar panels, and battery arrangement.

Fastest Solar Car and Problems Associated With It

The current fastest solar vehicle is the Sunswift IV. Students from the University of New South Wales developed this vehicle for Solar Racing. The automotive and aerospace sectors and those employed in bicycles have influenced the technology used in cars.

Since no cars have been developed to depend only on solar energy, there is no viable alternative. 

As a result, they use concepts that would be impractical to implement in real-world situations. A few examples: flat and enormous to accommodate more solar panels; designed with lightweight materials that wouldn’t survive even a minor accident; and can only seat one passenger and no baggage.

They’re built with ultralight materials that would not survive even a slight collision to conserve energy.

What is the operation of a solar charger?

Using solar energy to charge devices is based on the idea that sunlight is a plentiful supply of light and that light energy can be turned into various types of energy (say electricity).

A photon carries an amount of energy in its orbit around the Sun, and a photon carries both energy and velocity in its orbits around the Sun.

Photoelectric effects are explained by the theory of photoelectric effects, which states that a photon may push electrons off the surface of an atom if the photons have more incredible energy than the threshold energy.

Because of the repulsion of electrons from atoms, there is an imbalance between the charged atoms when this occurs. As a result of this imbalance, an electric field is generated inside the atoms. Electrons are then compelled to be pushed to the front side of the screen, where they generate a negative charge.

The protons, on the other hand, are left behind. As a result, a positive charge is generated on the cell surface. When both sides are linked via direct circuits, such as the terminals of a USB port, current travels through the external circuit created by the direct circuits.

The car battery gets charged by the Sun.

Some solar chargers are specifically intended to recharge automobile batteries, and this method is convenient when there is little prospect of assisting automobile batteries.

They should follow the following rules to make optimum use of the Solar vehicle battery charger:

• Place the automobile in a well-lit open location with plenty of natural light. Ensure that the solar-powered charger’s panel gets direct sunshine from the Sun.
• To ensure the clips are correctly connected to the battery terminals; as a result, the positive clip of the charger should be connected to the positive terminal of the battery, and the negative clip of the charger should be connected to a grounding point, such as a vehicle frame.

Exactly how can we know whether the solar panel is charging? (problems associated with integrating with the car)

A solar voltage regulator, also known as a solar charge controller, is the most effective and efficient technique to determine the condition of the battery and the charger. However, if the equipment is not accessible, a multimeter might be used in its place as a temporary measure of compliance.

In addition to using a hydrometer, it is possible to ascertain the current status of the charge, which is still another dependable method. Lead-acid batteries are often composed of a battery that has been installed in it and a detachable cap that they may use to test the specific gravity of the battery using a hydrometer that is capable of accurately determining the solar voltage of each cell.

Reading the battery’s charge level is essential when the Solar charger is not charging. Otherwise, it would result in various errors unrelated to the actual amount.

Instructions on how to get the most efficiency out of your solar charger

The following are some of the rules that they should follow to get the most out of a battery charger:

• Always make sure that the panel’s surface is free of debris. Check to see that it is clear of dust and debris. Most of the time, contaminants diminish the quantity and intensity of light that falls on the panel, which might result in a reduction in the panel’s overall efficiency.
• It is best not to place the charger on hot conductive surfaces. It may cause the device to overheat, resulting in a considerable reduction in the cell’s lifetime.
• Always connect the USB wires to the solar battery charger to the correct terminal.
• Always check the gadget using instruments such as multimeters to ensure it is in proper working order. If the solar battery charger is deteriorating quicker than the manufacturer’s recommended rate, it is necessary to contact the manufacturer for assistance.

Exactly How can you know Whether your Solar Panel is Charging?

It is critical to make sure that the Solar Panel is charging correctly. It may provide information about the device’s overall health and the current charging stage. They may follow the following principles to achieve this:

It is advised that the voltage of the solar panel be measured. When using a multimeter set to DC voltage, connecting the negative terminal’s black color to the positive terminal’s red color is necessary.

A properly functioning solar panel will display the voltage advised by its manufacturer if it is in proper operating order. However, if there is a fault, the voltage will be different, or the device may display several errors, depending on the situation.

It is necessary to detach the battery from the cables to measure the voltage across them. It means that the voltage level on the cable should be somewhat lower than the voltage measured on the actual solar panel in this situation. On the other hand, if there are some mistakes or a much lower number or no reading, the connection has a problem.

Allow the solar panel to recharge for the whole day. The next step is taking all of the measures and comparing them to the initial measurement you obtained. If the charging is successful, the voltage value must have grown considerably due to the process. If this is not the case, contact the manufacturer.

It is visible that there is a huge problem in checking whether the solar battery is charging or not, which is very inconvenient for the cars. A car has to travel a long distance throughout the journey, and if we had to check the battery level and whether it has been charged or not, it is a very inconvenient process to adopt.

Simultaneously the solar panels are such sensitive devices that need very high maintenance. Again, this is a big reason why it is very inconvenient to use along with the cars.

Developments In Solar Powered Cars

The electric car manufacturers use solar power to power some of their vehicles. The use of solar charging facilities for electric cars, such as Teslas, is on the rise in certain areas.

They may recharge a considerable number of batteries utilizing solar panels, and they are then used to charge individual automobiles. Unfortunately, a standard 12 car charging station requires more than 10,000 square feet of solar panels.

Solar panels are already installed on the roofs of certain automobiles, but the power they provide is insufficient to run the whole vehicle. A small solar panel on the top of certain cars, for example, is used to charge the starting motor of an engine.

On hot days, a little fan powered by a small solar panel may assist cool the vehicle’s interior. There isn’t enough electricity in these panels to run a car, and instead, just a few components are powered by them.

Even though a vehicle’s solar panels may never be able to charge its battery completely, solar electricity from other sources is an excellent method to run electric automobiles. As the price of solar panels and batteries continues to fall, more firms will likely provide solar charging facilities for electric cars.

Conclusion

Utilizing solar energy in the car is among the latest technologies scientists are focusing on. Our earth will soon run out of all the nonrenewable energy sources like petrol, diesel, etc. Therefore, scientists are trying their best to utilize nonrenewable energy sources to utilize them in various feasible products.

Scientists and engineers have already developed electric cars; now, they are trying to go for solar-powered cars that can help utilize the massive amount of free energy source we get from the Sun.

Although scientists are still not able to find a feasible technology that can be called the commercial solar car, they are still trying their best, and we can expect that soon they will be able to progress in this field to the desired bar.