Tuesday June 24, 2008, 1:47 pm
Figured this one out some decadse ago. Here goes:

sunlight produces about 1,000 watts per square meter. (It produces about 1,300 in the tropics, this is the industry standard for a temperate zone.) The automobile might be ten square meters. That equals about 10 kwatts.

Now, the solar cells are not 100% efficient - in fact, until recently, 12% was good. Now they are above 18%. 18% of 10 kwatts equals 1.8 kwatts, 1800 watts.

As there are about 770 watts per horsepower, the solar cells would produce about 2.5 horsepower. This is less than a riding lawn mower, which can't be driven on the highway.


Now, the good news....you can cheat. A fixed solar array on your home can break the laws of physics merely by reflecting more light on the panel. The more mirrors you have bouncing sunlight on the grid, the more ir produces.

How much more? Would you belive a THOUSAND TIMES more? A French physicist, by reflecting thousnds of times the sunlight on a solar cell, produced an amazing one thousand times the rated output.

So, you install solar panels, you install mirrors that reflect light on the solar panels, and you can produce a tremendous amount of power.

But unfortunately a solar car is not practical - the surface area is small and you cannot reflect more light on it to increase power.

Instead, by an electric car which you charge with your home solar panels, which acheves the same purpose.

Tuesday June 24, 2008, 7:28 pm
It's encouraging to see so many companies, researchers, etc., getting in on the act. In the end it will be good for business, and good for the environment.

Tuesday June 24, 2008, 11:16 pm
This guy really knows how to think outside the box. Hard to imagine how expensive the car will be though, because his vacuum cleaners are very, VERY expensive - though they really, REALLY work! Well, from what I see.