Comment Comment by snowchaser It’s a good question, but the reality is the energy required to power a car is far larger than what you can collect.The solar energy you can collect is about 750W/sq meter.A car roof is about 5’x5’, and if we are generous and include a trunk and hood area, maybe you are getting 60 sqft?Best case if the sun is right over the car you can illuminate about 5 square meters. That’s about 3.75KW.To convert that to a more familiar car power measurement that’s about 5 horsepower.Hopefully it’s clear why a realtime solar car is hard.This is not to say it’s impossible, they have been built. They’re just not super practical for everyday use.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_car parent snowchaser 7 months ago
The solar energy you can collect is about 750W/sq meter.
A car roof is about 5’x5’, and if we are generous and include a trunk and hood area, maybe you are getting 60 sqft?
Best case if the sun is right over the car you can illuminate about 5 square meters. That’s about 3.75KW.
To convert that to a more familiar car power measurement that’s about 5 horsepower.
Hopefully it’s clear why a realtime solar car is hard.
This is not to say it’s impossible, they have been built. They’re just not super practical for everyday use.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_car