Never Been Done. Solar Panel on a CyberTruck! Charging Station soon.

[the43k]

 

[devdrone6]

Give us a synopsis, I don’t want to watch. ?

Someone did a folding one too, with a lot more panels.

 

[yippie]

Useless, there is no reason to bother with this. Maybe you'll boil a pot of water after 8 hours in the sun on a hot summer day in June.

 

[CyberZephyr]

I believe this was first https://www.cybertruckownersclub.co...ther-mods-on-my-cybertruck.25521/#post-426437, but I have to say, it doesn't as nice as yours.

 

[the43k]

Useless, there is no reason to bother with this. Maybe you'll boil a pot of water after 8 hours in the sun on a hot summer day in June.

Why don't you actually open your ears and eyes before you embarrass yourself. Did you actually watch the video? This one solar panel is one of many hooked to the camper. The camper will also have 2 large arrays and HUGE 30 KWH battery bank. Hence the on board EV charging station.

 

[gadgetmerc]

Those "mollie" racks have to add so much drag to the truck going down the road. I bet a trip down the road that extra drag will consume more power than that 540watt panels can create in a couple days. With an EV efficiency is king even with a bugout rig.

 

[the43k]

Those "mollie" racks have to add so much drag to the truck going down the road. I bet a trip down the road that extra drag will consume more power than that 540watt panels can create in a couple days. With an EV efficiency is king even with a bugout rig.

So Yes, Molle panel will create drag. Though I was driving on Route 25 a few days ago in 50 degree temps, doing 65+ and saw KW/mile in the 300's. The bigger picture is that the larger rack with solar panel will maintain air flow above expedition trailer, thus improving towing range. This theory is best described by "Engineering explained" in a video I've attached. It was also studied by Mercedes which is also mentioned in the video. Now, is this going to make losses insignificant??? Absolutely not! But we think it will help and the on board charging will play a helpful role.

 

[K-Tall]

Cool! Looking forward to following along.

 

[gadgetmerc]

I'm mostly curious about all of the holes in the mollie panels. You would think it would make a very draggy surface. You would think a flat panel would be much better.

3xx KW/mile is pretty good. Only FSD gets around that good for me (mine is a stock beast). I drive like a stole it which doesn't help much in the efficiency department.

 

[JackCypher]

Why don't you actually open your ears and eyes before you embarrass yourself. Did you actually watch the video? This one solar panel is one of many hooked to the camper. The camper will also have 2 large arrays and HUGE 30 KWH battery bank. Hence the on board EV charging station.

For camping use Solar is great with a Battery system. I have a Pinzgauer Overland setup with 1200 Watts of solar on the Pinz roof with a Small EcoFlow 900W battery, and a larger 3K EcoFlow battery.

So I can actually run a toaster oven full tilt to make food.

This keeps the camping electrical needs to pulling from the vehicle's battery. My Pinz has a dual battery system.

So camping, and even an electric heater won't compromise my vehicle's ability to get me out of trouble.

Now if you think those panels are going to do much to 'recover' or 'charge' the CT - that is a fantasy. It may keep the parasitic battery loss at bay.

So the idea to driving the CT to a point of no return - and relying on the panels to get you charged up and back is 'plausible' not practicable or remotely possible.

My Pinz battery died when it was parked for a few weeks. I connected the 1200 watts of solar to the batteries, and after 1 full day - it did not even bring the batteries up to crank the starter for more than 1 minute...These are 2 car batteries... I used a AC battery charger to bring the batteries back up.

The Pinz Solar will keep the batteries maintained - but I would not rely on them to recover from a dead battery.

My .02$

 

[the43k]

For camping use Solar is great with a Battery system. I have a Pinzgauer Overland setup with 1200 Watts of solar on the Pinz roof with a Small EcoFlow 900W battery, and a larger 3K EcoFlow battery.

So I can actually run a toaster oven full tilt to make food.

This keeps the camping electrical needs to pulling from the vehicle's battery. My Pinz has a dual battery system.

So camping, and even an electric heater won't compromise my vehicle's ability to get me out of trouble.

Now if you think those panels are going to do much to 'recover' or 'charge' the CT - that is a fantasy. It may keep the parasitic battery loss at bay.

So the idea to driving the CT to a point of no return - and relying on the panels to get you charged up and back is 'plausible' not practicable or remotely possible.

My Pinz battery died when it was parked for a few weeks. I connected the 1200 watts of solar to the batteries, and after 1 full day - it did not even bring the batteries up to crank the starter for more than 1 minute...These are 2 car batteries... I used a AC battery charger to bring the batteries back up.

The Pinz Solar will keep the batteries maintained - but I would not rely on them to recover from a dead battery.

My .02$

First off, our system is going to be vastly larger and more capable. 2nd, not suggesting it's going to be charging the CT fully in short periods of time. However, adding range in remote areas so that you can effectively make it back to civilization, will work. Furthermore, with a travel trailer style camper. You have the ability to disconnect and go back to CT standard range distances, while the trailer is recharging back at camp. Lots of stuff and information to come.

 

[Mini2nut]

I wonder if a factory solar panel option to replace the glass roof would totally eliminate vampire drain from the battery pack.

 

[JackCypher]

First off, our system is going to be vastly larger and more capable. 2nd, not suggesting it's going to be charging the CT fully in short periods of time. However, adding range in remote areas so that you can effectively make it back to civilization, will work. Furthermore, with a travel trailer style camper. You have the ability to disconnect and go back to CT standard range distances, while the trailer is recharging back at camp. Lots of stuff and information to come.

I am very interested to see the possibilities you plan. It is for sure the holy grail to have an EV that can be remotely charged off grid.

I agree : I did not read in that you were presenting complete off-grid...however, most will 'think' thats its primary purpose on looks alone.

No matter what, I love having panels and using electric for camping - it is faster, cleaner and safer...(no fire / flames)

If you panel your trailer roof - then you can start getting into solar surface areas that will get you into the Kwatts hours range...which is quite respectable.

Please keep us updated!..
Regards
Jack

 

[the43k]

I wonder if a factory solar panel option to replace the glass roof would totally eliminate vampire drain from the battery pack.

Im sure it could. May not be cost effective..

 

[SCTesla]

I wonder if a factory solar panel option to replace the glass roof would totally eliminate vampire drain from the battery pack.

No. I don't even think it would do that. Elon said just a solar roof on a car (or CT) is almost worthless, it's not enough surface area.