Toyota is apparently working on an electric vehicle that uses solar panels installed on the vehicle to recharge itself, according to Japanese business daily The Nikkei. It is of course just one way other than brake energy regeneration to recharge the car’s batteries. The car will also support plug-in charging, which could also be solar-sourced via solar panels installed on a home’s roof.
This piece of news seems to coincide with the fact that it’s battery partner Panasonic will be acquiring Sanyo, which is supposed to be a leader in solar energy technology. However, The Nikkei did not cite any sources when producing the report.
First talk of a Toyota powered by solar panels surfaced in July last year, also from The Nikkei. That report was followed by another one by Reuters which claimed the solar panels would be sourced from Kyocera, and would only produce enough power to run a car’s air conditioning, which kinda makes sense – a car’s air conditioning unit is probably run at full blast during a hot day, with plenty of sunlight!
The Reuters report also carried a quote which said it would be very difficult for solar energy to power anything more than that in real time, so it is more of a symbolic gesture, one that will be eating into the cost of the car, so it will truly be only for the rich and green-conscious for the time being,
There are actually solar cars around, heard of the World Solar Challenge? Participants race across the Australian continent in solar cars that weigh only about less than 200kg, have good aerodynamics, are quite large because of the many solar panels that need to be installed on the car, and can typically go up to a top speed of between 130km/h to 140km/h. Also, a company called Solar Electric Vehicles based in the US provides a service that retrofits the Toyota Prius and other Toyota hybrids with solar panels that can provide up to 1200 watt hours a day of energy.
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if cars are power by solar and recharge battery our Saudi oil king Grand children will have to sweep floor at DBKL.
event now they are crying for money cuss so many wives need to feed with US dollar
Kept moving forward!..
i think this a not new news already. Frankly rumours are already out that the next generation of Prius are fitted with solar panels on the roof to charge the li-on batts.
However, the interesting thing is that, how fast these solar panels can charge the batteries is a crucial point. If it takes a similar charge time of 16 hours to achieve full charge and travel an average of 55miles (similar to the tesla) then i dun really see the point.
IMHO, the prius is jus hyped out of proportion…running only 7miles on full EV mode isnt what i would say impressive and that being the case, it doesnt serve a purpose of “environmental friendly”. Just my 2cents.
cam.shaft
the issue the capability of energy stored per volume given, so far liquid fuel have batter ratio as a prime transportation.
awak said,
January 3, 2009 @ 10:49 am
the issue the capability of energy stored per volume given, so far liquid fuel have batter ratio as a prime transportation.
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agree on you on that…and as an alternative “green” car, my money is on the Honda’s FCX Clarity.
solar panel surfboard~~
manufacturing the Prius causes more environmental and ecological damage than other cars.
the batteries contains nickel which is produced in ontario, canada, then shipped to europe to be refined, then to china to be turned into ‘nickel foam’, then to japan for assembly before reaching the US.
imagine how much damage the production and transportation of just the battery causes.
Hopefully they just install solar panels on the roof to make the car battery last longer, lets say 10 years before change. That itself is a big step forward. I am skeptic it will ever replace petrol or hydrogen
Installation of solar panel on roof is a good idea. Intergration of combustion engines & or electric engines is a not a bad idea as well.
I also believe that Honda FCX clarity will have better future for us. Used Hydrogen only produces H20, which is water, so the engine will be as clean as possible. Maybe one day Type – R will run on liquid hydrogen rather than petrol?
i would be saying that days are counting for the day where solar panel will appear in layer form , sort of like paint work , with layer A sprayed on , then spray on layer B and both layers generate energy when there is enough solar .
FYI, a couple of Malaysian varsities are participating in the World Solar Challenge 2009 in Aussie this year. UNITEN is participating. And I think UM and USM are participating too. It’s a 3021km race from Darwin to Adelaide.
solar panel is not effective at all.. a huge 1m x 1m can merely produce 12v power on sunny day. wasting time and money to place the panel on car roof or any other part. but use the battery to store power instead.
haterade said,
January 4, 2009 @ 6:19 pm
FYI, a couple of Malaysian varsities are participating in the World Solar Challenge 2009 in Aussie this year. UNITEN is participating. And I think UM and USM are participating too. It’s a 3021km race from Darwin to Adelaide.
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additional, UTM will be joining for the third time….
the idea seems at 1st to be absurd.. but then it could prove to be a major success.
lotus displayed an “Eco” concept at the british motorshow last year which had solar panels on the roof.
what next? cameron diaz to drive a solar powered car?