Solar-Powered Ford Unveiled

7th January 2014

I reckon I could get a couple more panels on the doors and boot!

Looks good.



Ford has unveiled a new hybrid car with a roof covered in solar panels.


The C-Max Solar Energi claims to be the first sun-powered hybrid vehicle that does not depend on electricity for fuel.


The vehicle, which has one-and-a-half square metres of photovoltaic cells on its roof, will go on show at the Consumer Electronics Show 2014 (CES) held in Las Vegas this week.

The panels, built by SunPower in California, have a single metal layer on the back of the photovoltaic cells.


This layer is fitted inside curved glass on the top of the car, which the company claims enables them to use 50 per cent more energy over the same surface area than standard solar panels.




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2534528/Is-future-bright-eco-friendly-cars-Solar-powered-Ford-recharge-batteries-WITHOUT-plugged-in.html#ixzz2pfSKWoZZ

Its the "tesco car"...every little helps....

lets see
1.5 square meters of solar cells at +50% efficiency would give around 200-300 watts at best.

now my mates smart car is 55Kw (and they are tiddlers) so the cells can give ooooh about .65% of the power requirement....ok so it can charge the battery a bit whilst you are parked...

still every little helps........

but ..as a thought..those cells couldnt even power my air con in the vehicle I drive...let alone my transmitter/computers/etc.....

Cor, what a git.

A grumpy old one, at that!

yeah but every word of it is true...

however i will grant it one thing, It does suggest the possibility of a way forward, and like I say

every little helps   

Indeed, git, and i'm sure many have scoffed over inventions in the past, only for them to be refined and become household items.

The sun radiates approximately 1000-1300 watts / square meter.
50 % efficiency would be about 800watts

Still not really enough though.

Hmmm ... be interesting to see if this ever goes into production or is just greenwashing. Then again, Ford's claiming three quarters of an averaged driver's usage could be powered by the sun, and there's this part:

However, these panels alone do not generate enough energy to power a car for a day. Instead, Ford plans on amplifying the amount of solar energy harvested using a solar concentrator lens called a Fresnel lens, similar to that of a magnifying glass.

 

Underneath its ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre and cardboard camo' shell they really have (drum solo..)

An electric single-occupant moped !

  Great for endless travel while ever the sun is shining ~ just avoid heavily-overcast days, and be sure to be home before dark !!   

Ben_Reilly wrote:
Hmmm ... be interesting to see if this ever goes into production or is just greenwashing. Then again, Ford's claiming three quarters of an averaged driver's usage could be powered by the sun, and there's this part:

However, these panels alone do not generate enough energy to power a car for a day. Instead, Ford plans on amplifying the amount of solar energy harvested using a solar concentrator lens called a Fresnel lens, similar to that of a magnifying glass.

 

A "Fresnel lens" is one of those plastic credit card size (and bigger in multiples of credit cards..) plastic magnifiers that you can buy in news agencies for a couple of dollars; and are also often included in little pocket "survival" and "essentials" travel kits.

Though one would assume here that Ford envisions a model sized to cover their solar cells..

NO DOUBT the Fresnel lens manufacturers are all for it...

Beekeeper wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:
Hmmm ... be interesting to see if this ever goes into production or is just greenwashing. Then again, Ford's claiming three quarters of an averaged driver's usage could be powered by the sun, and there's this part:

 

A "Fresnel lens" is one of those plastic credit card size (and bigger in multiples of credit cards..) plastic magnifiers that you can buy in news agencies for a couple of dollars; and are also often included in little pocket "survival" and "essentials" travel kits.

Though one would assume here that Ford envisions a model sized to cover their solar cells..

NO DOUBT the Fresnel lens manufacturers are all for it...  

If you read the full article by clicking the link you would see that the Fresnel lens is in fact a canopy the car sits under (there's a picture, for you).

 

Build a carport-size Fresnel lens down here, L'ilAndy, and I reckon your solar powered Ford would be a molten mess within a few hours, following the kinds heatwaves we experienced last week...

A Credit_card-sized 'Fresnel lens' :


An A4 Page-sized 'Fresnel lens' :


And here we have a commercially available, Chinese made, "Fresnel lens from hell" arrangement: