Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Tech, Hatchbacks, Toyota
Toyota developing solar powered car?
by Jonathon Ramsey on Jan 2nd 2009 at 10:28AM 
Twelve years ago, Toyota started selling a car that was bought by those considered avant-garde, on the fringe. It was called the Prius. Now Toyota is looking to "turn around its struggling business with a futuristic ecological car," and the company is supposedly working on plans for a solar-powered car. We'll ignore, for a moment, that a company with $18 billion in cash and experiencing its first annual operational loss in 70 years is now called a "struggling business." The noteworthy news is that while other automakers are trying to get their hybrid acts together, Toyota is down the road working on a car powered solely by le soleil.
There is little in the way of hard information at this point. The Japanese newspaper Nikkei disclosed the development, saying that the car would have solar cells, and that it would also be charged by solar cells on homes. Also according to Nikkei, the solar cells on the car will be as powerful as those on the house, capable of generating 2-5 kilowatts.
Toyota has talked publicly about a solar panel option on the next Prius, but that was called "a symbolic gesture" by an insider. Privateers have also done their part contributing to the idea of a Prius augmented by solar power, largely with mixed results. Nevertheless, Toyota has a keen partner in the venture: Panasonic. The giant consumer electronics maker that makes Prius batteries is in the midst of buying Sanyo, the world's 7th-largest solar cell maker. Nevertheless, solar cell technology isn't advanced enough to create a mass-market solar car, which is why reports claim it will be years before such a vehicle is on the market. As one Japanese solar energy expert said, "Even if you laid solar panels out on the entire roof of a house, you only generate enough energy to run two hairdryers." Hat-tip: Jarrett
[Source: Yahoo!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Mazda FTW! 10:35AM (1/02/2009)
Never gonna work in Toronto. We had about 5 days of sunshine like all last year lol.
Now if they can make a snow powered car, I'll have unlimited energy sources!!!
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Epyx 10:44AM (1/02/2009)
Same goes for Pittsburgh with the sun filled days. I think our Prius would need to run on Perogies or something.
moyoi 11:09AM (1/02/2009)
or Primanti's!
happy_penguin 6:47PM (1/02/2009)
That's okay. Toyota will just give a few of these to some ignorant Hollywood t*ats who will expound upon the wonders of the solar powered car and wonder why the rest of the evil Americans aren't driving them, completely ignoring the fact that SoCal is not America. It would be completely impractical in most areas.
gforce 10:42AM (1/02/2009)
I don't believe the surface area of a car would ever be large enough to charge the vehicle on any timely basis. Maybe if you only drove it a couple of miles a day, I suppose. And as far as solar panels on the house making the car "solar-powered" then the same would apply for ANY plug-in electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle, like the Volt or the Chrysler EVs.
Strictly a PR move, and because it's Toyota the media are gobbing it right up.
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Bungle 12:11PM (1/02/2009)
Yeah, I think that they would have done better to call it "solar supplemented" or something like that.
I do think it's a great idea to take advantage of the energy potential of a car sitting in a sunny parking lot all day long, even if it only goes a short way toward charging its battery. Sure, it wouldn't work everywhere, but at least here in the southern U.S., a few years' worth of sun exposure is plenty to oxidize the paint on a car's roof - so there's got to be a significant amount of solar energy falling that is, as of yet, uncollected.
why not the LS2LS7? 4:21PM (1/02/2009)
I think your program was overstating the case. Even here in California, a family would have to be very energy efficient (under $100/mo electricity bill), and presumably that also means not using A/C. If you can meet that, you can zero out your energy bill. And no, things aren't advancing so quickly that this will be trivial soon. And no, most of the country doesn't get nearly as much sun as we do here in California.
On a cloudy day, a solar panel will develop only between 10% and 12% as much power as it does on a clear day. So that means if you have a lot of cloudy days, you would require about a 4X larger solar array. Given this, by the time the average household can zero their electric bill with solar, it would mean that those in Arizona would be able to zero their electric bill with only a tiny installation. It would pay itself back in just two years or so! Basically, when you see that no one can afford not to have solar in Arizona, then you'll know that it's ready for the average family.
Finally, another problem a solar car would face is insufficient energy storage. A house with solar power can use the grid as a big storage battery. So if it's grey 6 days in a row, it's no big deal. You can still reach zero by the end of the month. But if you had a car, it would be undrivable by the 2nd or 3rd day because it is out of juice since it cannot use the grid as a big battery.
EskimoPie 10:43AM (1/02/2009)
"Even if you laid solar panels out on the entire roof of a house, you only generate enough energy to run two hairdryers."
Is that accurate? I find that hard to believe.
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Epyx 10:45AM (1/02/2009)
Hairdryers actually use a ton of energy. Chicks are always blowing fuses with those things!
why not the LS2LS7? 10:57AM (1/02/2009)
Yes and no.
A standard "big" solar system on a house is about 6-8KW. This would be enough to run 3-4 hairdryers. However, that's only on a cloudless day when the sun is at its peak and the system is running at max efficiency (have been recently cleaned for starters). At any other time, the output will be lower, and so yeah, for much of the day that same system would probably only run 2 hairdryers.
Note that hairdryers take a LOT of power. An 1800W one takes the max output for an entire circuit in your house. In my house, I could only run 6 of these at once before the main breaker in my house flipped (I have 100A service).
Bungle 2:57PM (1/02/2009)
I wouldn't be surprised if that was accurate, but I think that assumes that you're running the hairdryers *all day long*. The moment you switch them off, you can store the collected power, and over time, you'll accumulate enough to put a significant dent in your household's (or your electric car's) power bill.
I saw a recent program on state-of-the-art solar energy, and it asserted that for about $15-20K, an average family in an average home could install enough solar panels to zero out their energy costs, at least assuming a reasonably energy-efficient lifestyle. Adding a car to the grid would probably at least double that cost, but given advancements in solar cell efficiency, I'm sure that could be reduced to a more feasible level.
snp 4:13PM (1/02/2009)
Definitely PR. I hope most americans brush this off as nonsense. Do you know how much energy is in a beam of sunlight within a 1x1 ft surface area from the ground? Even if the photovoltaic material were to reach 100% absorption
(impossible), there still wouldnt be enough energy. A glass roof on the '09 mustang costs several thousand. Imagine a photovoltaic roof. I pay for electricity by the dime/kW in nyc. Even if costs were to drop down to the price of the glass, it still wouldn't be practical. I can see how it would be useful on a house seeing how it's usually the highest point in most locations, but cars are usually parked/driven in less optimal places. Can you imagine if an accident were to occur? Expensive toxic metal shrapnel covered in glass over a weakened roof with hundreds of high temperature/high density chemical batteries everywhere. And that's not including the structurally light frame to toss you around in.
Hamud 10:51AM (1/02/2009)
I don't think this system could power the car all by all itseIf. I see this as a complementary system to a plug-in hybrid or a full electric car, it could help to recharge the batteries, giving more miles range.
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mmstowes 10:51AM (1/02/2009)
"Solar cell technology isn't advanced enough to create a mass-market solar car, which is why reports claim it will be years before such a vehicle is on the market. "
This statement is highly inaccurate.
Anyway, I agree with gforce. This is strictly a PR move.
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Rick 10:59AM (1/02/2009)
Do you guys have any technical writers that actually vet these news releases? No way, with TODAYS technology, could solar cells covering the meager surface area of a car actually provide enough power to power that same car in the manner it's suggesting. They were not very clear that the car would require the other mentioned power derived from the cells on the house to provide the vast majority of the charging.
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Sea Urchin 11:51AM (1/02/2009)
This is just the first step. Think 5-10 years down the road.
mmstowes 10:59AM (1/02/2009)
The term "solar technology" is misleading. It's the frequency that's important, not the actual source of light (i.e. the sun). You'd be surprised by some of the conditions a panel can pick up light.
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mmstowes 11:08AM (1/02/2009)
Grrr...stupid comment system. This was a reply to Mazda FTW!.
Mazda FTW! 12:07PM (1/02/2009)
I know. But I needed to make a smart-a$$ remark anyway :P
They should have the solar energy operate some non-essential accessories or features in the car.
why not the LS2LS7? 11:01AM (1/02/2009)
There are plenty of solar-powered cars out there. GM did one 20 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Solar_Challenge
The problem is, these cars are truly state-of-the-art. That is, you simply cannot make a car light enough or solar panels efficient enough to do more than carry one person in a spindly deathtrap. Even across sunbaked Australia.
Toyota is not stupid. They know the limitations, they cannot possibly be thinking they can make a truly solar powered car. At least what we in the US consider a car.
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