this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2024
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[–] [email protected] -4 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Power to weight doesn't matter as we are talking about using a solar panel instead of a roof. There's no added weight. The car will already have inbuilt inverters so the only real weight add is the wiring. But also, this is a postal vehicle which will have large swings in weight anyways. A couple of extra pounds doesn't make a difference here.

Further, this isn't a car, which has a much smaller surface area. These things have about 10 square meters of flat roof. That's a peak output of ~3kW. (realistically, probably closer to 1.5kW average throughout a day) which translates into 12kWh of charge in any given day. Roughly 10% of the battery capacity could be restored daily.

For large vehicles, like delivery vehicles and busses, the math on making the roof out solar panels instead of steel changes.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago (3 children)

A roof only needs to be a thin piece of sheet metal, weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-2lbs per square foot

Most solar panels are going to weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-4lbs per square foot. So is likely the panel would weigh 2-4 times as much as just a plain metal roof, plus possibly a metal roof under it and/or additional framing to attach the panels to, so power to weight does absolutely come into play.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 5 days ago (2 children)

That comes in at an additional 400lbs on a vehicle that weighs 6,670 lbs if you assume the maximal weight of the panels and the need for a metal roof anyways. That extra 6% weight just doesn't matter. 6% losses range for 12% free charging seems like a worthy tradeoff to me. (and again, this is the maximal value).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago

That extra 6% weight just doesn't matter.

LOL weight is incredibly important. Automakers would kill puppies for a 6% weight reduction.

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