Body panel integrated solar cells

[Stinsy]

I guess there will be a cost/benefit decision on a case-by-case basis. Solar works amazing well on a campervan to keep a leisure battery topped up and run fridge, lights, USB charging etc - but you need much more to make a significant difference to a drive battery in terms of miles gained.
I still like the idea of an electric campervan in the future with the roof & maybe awning covered in PV and topping up the main batteries to gain 50 miles a day or similar while you are away, but may be a while before that becomes realistic / cost effective

Indeed. A solar panel on a caravan will effortlessly power the fridge, a few LED lights, and charge your phone. You only need 1-2kWh for that. Whereas to provide motive power you need 10 or 20 times as much energy.

[Mart]

I think we need to be careful not to confuse power and energy. I'm currently charging my BEV from solar at 1-2kW, and that's absolutely fine. The energy to drive will come from the battery (even if I floor it ~300kW), and will have been built up over a longer time period.

Not sure PV on small BEV's (cars) is economically viable, but the level of power generation is not critical to driving, just like a 7kW home charger wouldn't power a BEV beyond ~30mph, even if the extension cord was very (very) long.

Tesla's all have glass roofs, but I believe Elon has said that a PV roof simply isn't economically sensible. But I assume, at some point in the future, costs will fall, and it will be worth considering, but presumably viable in sunnier climes, first.

[Joeboy]

Cheers! Brilliant explanation

I was fortunate in that I was on the old rolling stock pre electrification on the West Coast lines. Brilliant private compartments on that stock. Used to go down to Ayr, so passed unknowingly the future Kirkhill site at 16, 6am every morning. Also.down to Wemyss bay, doubled up as a train station.and ferry terminal. Just excellent times.

I recently rode on an old class 90 that had unexpectedly been chartered to replace the service i'd booked. I'm sorry to say it made me very sad. The old train was fast, elegant, comfortable, and quiet. It compared very favourably with the horrible modern rolling stock. We live in sad times...

I had a look online and the one's from memory were Mk1 & Mk2 British rail carriages. I vividly remember the look and feel of the external door brass handles. It would have been 84/85.





Good memories of the sleeper out of Glasgow Central heading down to London for adventure, same year.

Edit- Well I'm going to have to now!
https://www.jacobitetrail.co.uk/the-jacobite-train

[Joeboy]

Some public charge point figures

https://www.zap-map.com/ev-stats/how-ma ... ing-points

[GarethC]

Until very recently my dad lived within 20 metres of the line not far from Fort William station. Was always fun when the Jacobite went past.

We've just bought a 46 year old 33 foot yacht which we will moor in the beautiful Bishops Bay near Ballachulish. It's a way to holiday more locally as we won't fly any more.

The seller had installed 200W of solar panels which charge the 300Ah of batteries and keep the fridge going amazingly well. I'm wondering about getting an electric outboard to charge with it. Will reduce fossil fuel usage even more. Quite exciting what you can do. Might get a small wind generator and more batteries.

Replacing the inboard is a whole level up. Batteries even charge under sail as the prop turns. It can be done but it's expensive, disruptive and range is limited (not great in a blow). We're hoping to almost never use the diesel inboard anyway so probably not that big a win.

[Joeboy]

Until very recently my dad lived within 20 metres of the line not far from Fort William station. Was always fun when the Jacobite went past.

We've just bought a 46 year old 33 foot yacht which we will moor in the beautiful Bishops Bay near Ballachulish. It's a way to holiday more locally as we won't fly any more.

The seller had installed 200W of solar panels which charge the 300Ah of batteries and keep the fridge going amazingly well. I'm wondering about getting an electric outboard to charge with it. Will reduce fossil fuel usage even more. Quite exciting what you can do. Might get a small wind generator and more batteries.

Replacing the inboard is a whole level up. Batteries even charge under sail as the prop turns. It can be done but it's expensive, disruptive and range is limited (not great in a blow). We're hoping to almost never use the diesel inboard anyway so probably not that big a win.

Talk about living the dream! Any photos of said vessel?
95% at least of liveaboard vessels I see over here have a small WT and increasingly over the last 5 years PV. It's the way to go.

[GarethC]

Hopefully this works. Panoramic of our overnight anchored off north of Lismore (Port Ramsay). Seals everywhere (but not in this picture).

Boat only cost £4k per family (3 of us pitching in) plus about £70 per family per month to cover mooring and other costs, so all pretty affordable. The west coast is a world class cruising ground, so an obvious candidate to explore if we're not going abroad.

[Joeboy]

Hopefully this works. Panoramic of our overnight anchored off north of Lismore (Port Ramsay). Seals everywhere (but not in this picture).

Boat only cost £4k per family (3 of us pitching in) plus about £70 per family per month to cover mooring and other costs, so all pretty affordable. The west coast is a world class cruising ground, so an obvious candidate to explore if we're not going abroad.

That is nice, congratulations to all concerned.

Do you need a skippers ticket (no pressure, genuinely seeking knowledge).

[Oliver90owner]

How much energy would a 115W Solar panel (with coating of some description) produce on average in the UK (I get close to b****r all from my whole array during December to Feb!) That's without, as Stinsy points out, the reduction of direct insolation at so many opportunities with a car.

Some (a few) first-production special edition BEVs have had a solar panel integrated into the roof in some way (likely stuck on?). None on main production versions have that, yet.

Hyundai and some other makes have had problems with the 12V battery becoming discharged (the ioniq 5 apparently doesn’t charge the aux battery when the traction battery SOC falls below 20%, for instance). A means of maintaining the 12V battery charge might well be an asset in those instances to avoid low SOC in the 12V battery and to extend its life (the lead/acid type. It is likely why Tesla are now fitting Li-ion auxiliary batteries?

Question: does the lighting suffer, during a long night-time drive, at low SOC in the traction battery?

Caravans are a totally different scenario to PV on a car roof.

[Joeboy]

Question: does the lighting suffer, during a long night-time drive, at low SOC in the traction battery?

No, lights are fine. I have driven in both low traction battery and with the 12V coming back alive from a charge.

I literally jump started the 12V from a volvo diesel for less than 10 minutes. That got enough power into the 12V for the full system to awake and I then drove at 02.30hrs to a charging point. Then home.

The 12V isn't affected in normal driving conditions at low traction soc. It's only when the app wakens the car over extended periods of time in off mode and slowly drains the 12V.