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Solar Energy Becoming More Pervasive
TheUploader writes "RenewableEnergyAccess is reporting that Solatec LLC has released a stick-on solar panel kit that charges your hybrid while parked. In related news, the world's largest photovoltaic system will be built, not on the roofs of Priuses, but on the ground of Nevada, and will provide clean energy for the US military."
The Prius has an MSRP of $21,725. At 10% the cost of the car, the solar panel kit ($2,195) seems like a reasonable deal, considering it facilitates 10% better gas mileage. At 55 mpg, the gas cost to drive 200,000 miles (at $2.20/gallon) is $8,000. At 60 mpg, the gas cost to drive 200,000 miles (at $2.20/gallon) is $7,333. The difference is $666. Considering the kit costs over three times what the gas savings amount to, it is hard to market on account of good money-sense. The only consolation is the concept of helping mother nature. I have limited understanding of the fabrication process of the solar panels, so it would be hard to say whether or not mother nature profits from this scenario.
Sadly, based on my understanding of the product described in the article, I don't see any way it can achieve any real MPG improvement. It only charges the small accessory 12V battery used for starting the car and running the power accessories(AC, steering, radio, etc). It provides no juice to the 28 200V main battery bank modules that power the engine.
A good polyurethane substitute can be produced from soy. Most plastics, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, artificial rubbers, and the host of other petroleum products critical to modern society don't have very good biosubstitutes.
However, if power becomes cheap, that's not a problem. Hydrogen + CO + pressure and heat produces a mixture of various hydrocarbons; that's how the Nazis produced oil late in WWII.
It's time for Operation Crazy Plan.
"Significantly, particulate emissions have been reduced by over 90 percent in the past 15 years." - http://www.greencar.com/index.cfm?content=features 13
m er-service-from-vw.html
"The TDI is certified to the tough minimum Tier 1 requirement - this is the stringent California standard for what is permitted from a car's tailpipe. The TDI could have been certified to even stricter requirements if not for NOX and particulate emissions, which are naturally higher in diesel engines because of their exceptional combustion efficiencies.
Volkswagen is confident these NOX levels can be lowered using new technology if the sulfur level in our nation's diesel fuel was reduced. For this very reason, Volkswagen and the other members of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers have advocated lower federal sulfur content standards in both diesel and gasoline fuels." - http://tedshelton.blogspot.com/2005/11/good-custo
There's plenty more out on the web. the TDI with current US petrol diesel will have a higher particulate rate per gallon spent, but a lower rate per mile due to their improved efficiency.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
I spoke to one of the engineers a few years ago. They clean it exactly as you would expect: with some light detergent and a hose. No rubbing-- scraches the mirrors and requires more effort then a simple hosing down.
In one test, they attached little sprayers (I think they were using the sprayers from a drip irrigation system) to the panels to spray it down every morning. Worked pretty well.
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."