solar panel weight
How much power can a car covered with solar panels generate?
How much energy can be generated and the amount of energy can be stored by a vehicle covered by solar panels in both the rates of return on current today (~ 15% I think) and some types of theroetical during 10 years from now as the efficiency of panels of S. improve. In a light vehicle to be sufficient to travel? If so for how long?
It depends on how big the car, but in general the answer ends up being "a lot". There are about one kilowatt, a little over one horsepower per square meter of sunlight in good condition to the closing sunny sun directly overhead. Common current solar cells have a conversion rate of about 15%, as you said. Thus, if a car is two meters wide and three feet long, this will give 600 watts, about 8/10ths of a horsepower, under ideal conditions. These conditions are that the sky is clear and the sun is nearly vertical, and so on. As for the lateness of solar cells will change this, the best Available now are about 35% efficiency. These are intended for use in space where each bit of weight savings account, and are much, much more expensive than conventional solar cells. The use of these would take more than 1.5 horsepower under ideal conditions. The maximum, assuming a hypothetical 100% efficient cells solar, something that has no idea how to do that today, and will probably never be possible, which, as I said, will be approximately 1 kW per square meter of parking space, again assuming ideal conditions. It is possible to make a solar-powered car that is fully manageable and can cover a good distance, but will have to be very light, very aerodynamic, and have a rolling resistance extremely low if it is reasonable to have something like acceleration and top speed.
