this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
186 points (98.9% liked)
Technology
59658 readers
2766 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Yeah, unless there's huge advances in solar panel efficiency and weight, it's probably better to focus on smart charging off static solar panels, even though it would be cool to own a car that just charges itself one day.
Companies like Aptera will need to find a niche use case where solar makes more sense than plugging in at home. I guess it would be useful for people that only have on street parking available to them?
They're actually trying to do just that. Aptera developed their own solar panel assembly and charge controller to go in the car. It's designed to be super light weight and durable.
Also yes, plugging at home is not a valid option for many Americans. Even fewer can afford solar panels at home.
Oh yeah it would definitely be cool to have a car powered by onboard solar panels, but I don't think that's ever going to be viable where I live. I'm getting a whooping 0.3kWh-1.5kWh of production per day at the moment on my 11.4kWp installation.