Travelling solely on solar!

[jonah-jorgenson]

Interesting effort. Vehicle certainly not optimized for aero, but still pretty innovative DIY work with charging upgrades along the way. I am not patient enough to drive that far at 20-30 mph nor could I take off enough time to do so. Should inspire Aptera fans though. It would be an interesting trip with a 1,000 mi Aptera (Maybe even 600 or 400) with full solar and camping tent. Probably could make the whole trip without an external charge (Other than external panels connected) if willing to drive slow enough and spend some time during the day stopped to charge with the solar array. Also could connect some external panels now that Aptera will include that capability in the production vehicle.

I am sure some enterprising and adventurous Aptera owner will do something like this.

[george-hughes]

Interesting video. Thanks for posting.

Looking at the fellow’s setup, and also considering the really astounding efficiencies of perovskite solar cells, this kind of application would be a great demonstration of the tech.

Consider that perovskite cells can be literally painted on a substrate flexible enough to roll up a much larger collection area quickly and easily. Perovskites are also much lighter than silicon solar cells.

The reported problem with this tech is its expected life. Perovskites have a reputation that you’d do well to have a three-year life of a static ‘installation’ at not much savings over the cost of a 25+ year productive life for silicon cells.

We all saw the clever way the guy in the video erected his solar array. Imagine, though, a totally different vehicle. Basically aerodynamic – it could be shaped kind of like Aptera – but in camping mode, the roof pivots forward and a large full dome self-inflates with the flex cells in all directions. Once inflated, specific snaps allow the user to avoid opening the window and collapsing the big tent.

The end result is efficient during travel because of its aerodynamic shape and comparative lack of mass for an over-the-road camper that because of the self-erecting large camping tent covered with copious amounts of flexible solar cells (perovskites) capable on a good day of generating enough power to push a quite large and luxurious solar-powered camper 250 miles in a day.

The point is that effort was quite commendable and should inspire others to better.

[Shawgrin]

Kerbe, thank you for finding that video. Quite a bit food for thought. Sailing reference was very interesting.