– Why do electric cars not have solar panels on rooftop so they could be charged while driving/parked
In: Engineering
Current solar panels are about 15% efficient and output around 15 watts per square foot. With only 162 sq ft per parking space (~ 9ft x 18ft) maximum and less than that if only the upward facing parts of a body and if it has to be form-fitting (not a flat panel). And the sun should hit the panel exactly perpendicular otherwise rapid roll-off of efficiency and you collect even less watts. Clouds… dust… etc cut it back even more.
Anyway so at an ideal 15 * 162 = 2430 watts, and it takes ~387692307.692 watts to fully fill a Tesla S from empty, you would be parked for months or years or longer *of full sunlight* which doesn’t happen at night so that makes it take even longer. Or, get several *yards* of range from it…
It just can’t work (yet, or maybe ever).
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