Add-on Solar Panels

[bruce-mengler]

How do you plan on preventing the extra PV panels from walking away from the Aptera when it is parked & unattended? Realize that bolt cutters are more portable than PV panels.

[len]

I love Aptera’s mobile solar charge which would work “whenever the sun shines on it” Even when I I am on the move!

I am getting full solar

( I don’t think it can charge while under a rapid DC charge)

But for my wife’s EV ( Not an Aptera. ) I am investigating this product

https://beamforall.com

As we need shade in the desert!

Of course adding a few more PV solar panels to my house array is less expensive

[ray-holan]

I support your idea, Martin. Yes, parking the Aptera and setting up the panels outside the vehicle would need to be done in a secure area. Nevertheless, there have been several mentions by Chris A. that Aptera would allow external panels to be connected. I assume it would be a MC4 outlet but we’ll have to wait and see.

[alain-chuzel]

Before plugging in, however, be sure to understand voltage, current and power limits. I’ve said it before. Magic smoke is difficult, at best, to put back in….

[paul-brand]

I wonder if Aptera would consider building an optional portable solar array in daisy-chainable modules which could be deployed next to parked vehicles (where they can be attached safely) and connected to the rear charge port to allow extended off-grid solar charging capacity.

If the solar cells were similar to the built in cells and the battery management system could sense their presence, this would make the solar-charging capability even better.

[curtis-cibinel]

I think Chris commented on this in his interview with Steve from Aptera owners club about 4 months ago (part of his visit – bunch of videos on YouTube). I don’t recall how committal the answer was but I think most people are now expecting an mc4 port. I believe we even know got quoted the potential capacity in the electronics was something like 1200 or 1500w leaving plenty of room for external cells.

[john-malcom]

May I suggest working toward a future solution. A few years ago we invested in becoming grid independent with our home solar. We oversized it so we could charge or EVs without paying the increasing utility rates. We ow have two Teslas we charge from home solar (At different times of the day) and are not connected to the utility for any electrical power.

<font face=”inherit”>If you start now with a small system especially with the new government incentives you can </font>gradually<font face=”inherit”> grow until you are independent and your electicity for your home and your EV cost nothing.</font>

<font face=”inherit”>We have another incentive. We live in Florida and are occasionally subject to power failures do to hurricanes. I hate to admit, but we do gloat when the power is out for a few days following a hurricane, everything is on at our house and our neighbors houses are dark.</font>

[georg-matt]

Chris mentioned yesterday in his presentation at Fully Charged that they plan to offer external panels for camping/charging in remote areas. If memory serves, he said 1 kW.

[john-young]

Building your own portable panels will be a bit of trial and error. The benefit of having a DC to DC connection directly into the Aptera MPPT Solar Controller can be illustrated by checking out this dude’s setup.

https://youtu.be/fdexi5azaNEhttps://youtu.be/fdexi5azaNE

He has to go panel to solar controller to battery (for a buffer) back to Tesla charger which needs access to the outside of the vehicle. He also looses some in the DC to AC to DC conversion, all the connections, charge/discharge of his buffering battery, ect…

If Aptera really does give us an external port to plug 1,000 watts of solar into that would be just absolutely amazing.

[ray-holan]

I found a place in AZ that sells used rigid panels for $75 for a 250 watt panel. $300-$400 investment would get you 1,000 watts. These are standard residential panels, so heavier than the foldable, portable panels available from several vendors. However, these are suitable for charging your Aptera directly from the sun at home using the MC4 outlet we believe will be built into the Aptera.

[lucaly]

In order to charge faster by 🌞 while the Aptera is parked, Extra External Solar Panel could help. Only a separat plug for the Panels would be needed. This is a small engineering challange, but a big advantage for a solar veicle 🌞

[harry-parker]

Yes, a socket for extra solar panels has been suggested and discussed before and the company has stated that one is in the plans. I have not heard whether it will be in the Launch Edition or not.

[john-young]

If I could have one extra thing, this would be it. They’ve said the solar controller has extra headroom to take another 1,000 watts but the last time it came up it sounded like having a MC4 or some other DC connection was not in the cards. However…i don’t know what the LOWER threshold of the NACS DC connection is. So you could come up with a Frankenstein MC4 (standard solar panel connector) to NACS.

[lucaly]

Thanks, for the replays.

I was thinking, it is simple, because there are already panles and supplenetary ones coult be just connected in parallel to the existing. So only a Connector/Plug would be nedded to enter into the existing sircuit. But I dint know if the unit wehre the panels are connected can support more Watt. f.e. 1400W instead of only 700W would be duble and already grate 🙂

🌞🌞🌞🌞 we want more pure 🌞 energy

[Riley]

I will be adding my own solar input port and plug in my own panels mounted to the roof of my house. More than likely no standard off the shelf solar panel will work so I can see a scenario where I will buy the same style/number of solar cells and build my own panels. Simply splice the wires into the solar charger as to emulate the real thing and add a switch to disconnect the onboard solar.

[alain-chuzel]

……I will buy the same style/number of solar cells and build my own panels…..

Music to my ears! While soldering the cells to each other is relatively easy, how do you plan to encapsulate the cells? Assuming you aren’t experienced in proper solar cell encapsulation and are receptive to outside input, I’d be happy to “critique” your plans.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 2 weeks ago by  Alain Chuzel.

[ray-holan]

Alain, this begins to sound like a cottage industry option for you!

I myself have considered several charging methods. I already have PV panels on the roof of my home so plugging the Aptera into a standard EV charging wall unit gets me solar charging beyond what Aptera’s solar cells can provide. I’ve also thought about constructing a mobile (for my driveway only) standalone solar charging station consisting of a 2K-3K inverter, LiPo battery(s) and two, 200 watt PV panels. This would provide very slow charging at level 1, not level 2 speed. That would be just for the “science project” fun of it. The elegance of being able to simply plug in an external PV panel into the Aptera battery pack via an MC4 or similar connector is appealing. I hope this would be a feature of the LE, but I’m not optimistic. Living in the real world, I realize the priority is to get some Aptera produced and on the road — “feature creep” runs counter to that goal.

[f-casey-wimsatt]

On a sunny day, one option/variation might be charging at 120v from a portable power station, such as the Ankar 767, which can accept up to 1000w of solar input.

[ragu-singh]

Am not sure if engineering team Aptera looks into forum hence discussion point for all on the group. Given Aptera already has battery, is there any standalone portable size solar that has minimum storage to reduce cost and weight, that can be used to supplement charging Aptera , may be at home on weekends or say if traveling to a remote place.

Such a system would be consist of:

1. A fold-able solar panel set that fits flat on the Aptera flatbed

2. Small battery storage to stabilize output from the system, not for storage.

3. A charge controller with DC out to Aptera charge point, no inverters to reduce conversion losses.

4. Supplement solar with portable low noise blade-less wind turbine (used when parked).

Suggestions please

[harry-parker]

Others have earlier requested something similar and they’ve given that some thought. You won’t need (2) or (3) because your solar panels will be able to plug directly into the same solar charge controller and battery that comes in the Aptera. This is somethiing they have said they are working on including.

I doubt (4. a tiny portable wind turbine) makes much financial sense, unless you like to camp in very windy locations. You get a lot more energy for your money with solar panels.

[Tam]

I think the portable solar panel will be somewhat of a niche market, e.g. people that want to go camping off grid in the desert for a couple of days. I think 400w if probably the maximum size foldable solar panel people would want to put up with.

I do like the option of a solar controller with overhead though, with an external waterproof port. Lots of used solar panels available for less than $1 a watt, you could get ground mount and basically double your solar with 4 panels (+800w) for very little money, near your parking spot. For the green bonus points or for people pay through the nose for electricity.

[Greek]

With the development of solar film, I wonder if it can be rolled into a tube and then rolled out to use when needed. Would not take up too much space and it would be light weight. I do know that they may not be as efficient, but if thin enough, you should be able to have a lot of square feet covered.

[Mike-Mars]

There are plenty of folding panels (intended for camping, etc), and they work quite well. Also folded is usually more space efficient than rolled.

[john-malcom]

👍😄

[ROMAD]

What if they could also work as sunscreens for the front behind the dash solar and the door windows?

[Mike-Mars]

Personally I think that’s a great idea, and I’ve suggested it before a few times. ChrisA’s response to having a solar windscreen cover was that it would shade the dash solar cells.

(I don’t entirely understand that, because you can have a lot more solar covering the windscreen, compared to the limited number of cells that can fit on the dash).