On 1/2/14 5:43 PM, Bill Woodcock wrote:
On Jan 2, 2014, at 4:30 PM, Jamie K <[email protected]> wrote:
For those who haven't yet RTA, it says that the solar concentrator
is mounted on a carport, not on the car. The idea is to project
more sunlight from a larger area down onto the car's roof-mounted
solar panels.
Ah, my apologies. I hadn’t seen that. A big-ass funnel external to
the car, indeed, then. This does strike me as becoming a bit of a
Rube Goldberg solution to the problem, though. PV on top of the car
to keep the electronics going and inside cool while it’s parked
without draining the traction pack, yes, I get. PV on top of the
house or car-port, yes, I get. I’m not sure having a magnifying
glass on top of the car-port, that’s only useful when the car’s
parked at home AT NIGHT is all that useful, though.
Concentrated moonlight? ;^)
But there are other more viable use cases such as a car that's kept at
home most of the time and used for errands while otherwise parked under
a home concentrating carport. Think of a stay-at-home spouse or someone
who works from home. Or those who drive and work at night.
Another possible use case: Concentrating carports at daytime work
locations for commuters to use.
Even for those who park in a garage at night and park in a parking lot
during the day without concentrating carports, car-mounted solar panels
could keep the car cool or warm as needed, and maybe even gain a few
miles range. Depending on the commute it could be a minor range gain or
a more useful percentage.
In any case, it's a fine thing for Ford and the students of Georgia Tech
to explore creative options that could especially help some people in
some existing situations, even if they may not be perfect for other
people in other situations.
Be creative, refine the ideas and, when ready, test them in the
marketplace. More power to them, so to speak...
FWIW, my wife and I have a Ford Focus Electric and a Ford C-Max
Energi, and we’ve been using about 300kWh/month of power between the
two of them, while the PV array I put on my roof is averaging a bit
over 1mWh/month. (500kWh in December, 1.3mWh in June)
Looks like rooftop solar has you well covered. It's a practical solution.
I wonder about how that might heat up the paint and interior of the
vehicle over time.
Indeed.
I imagine the students at Georgia Tech are testing how well focused the
concentrator can be, how much heat is gained, and how the heat is
dissipated. Sounds like a useful exercise for an engineering class to
tackle whether it works out or not.
Cheers,
-Jamie
-Bill
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