Most of the talk about solar being integrated with vehicles focuses on solar rooftops that can charge features like air conditioning — the solar roof of the next generation Prius will reportedly power just part of the 2- to 5-kilowatt air conditioning system.
But what if you were really serious about using the solar panel to power the vehicle? A company called Cruise Car is at the Solar Power International convention this week showing off its various low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles (in photo) and electric golf carts that are meant to be powered directly by the sun. The vehicles can be plugged into the power grid, but if you wanted to use the solar panel to fully charge the lead acid battery for driving, the company tells us, it’s going to take you a good 10 days.

Hmm, don’t know if I have an extra third of a month to power a vehicle. Solar as a direct source to power cars, just doesn’t make sense. The Solartaxi, a sun-powered vehicle that was making an around-the-world road trip to promote clean energy, has to pull a 6-square-meter solar panel trailer behind it to power the car and then still kept the option to plug into the grid if the driver planned on taking trips longer 100 km a day. One study shows that a solar-capped Prius can drive for just 5 to 8 miles on solar power alone.
But more and more electric vehicle makers are planning on integrating solar into next-gen vehicles as an optional accessory. On “The Colbert Report,” GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz explained that the Volt will have an optional photovoltaic roof and said “leave your volt in a sunny parking lot for two weeks and you’ll be able to get a charge.” (It’s a comedy show, so take that with a grain of salt).
Electric car startup Fisker Automotive also intends to use a solar roof to run a cooling system. Fisker, through its powertrain maker and investor Quantum, is having Asola design its roof, which will be on the first Karmas, due out at the end of the 2009. A company in San Antonio, Texas, called Sunrise Solar is selling a solar roof that users can add onto vehicles. Cruise Car also sells a solar roof kit for golf carts that’s basically a panel that plunks down right on top of the vehicle.
With all the attention on solar and green cars, it’s understandable that a business would rise up to combine the two. And a solar roof, as an extra power source, can help reduce gas consumption by topping off the battery. But we hope that interested buyers will understand solar car roofs for what they are: a cool, attractive feature that needs to be paired with a well-functioning EV. Advertising solar as a a good way to power a car is not a good plan.
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