Could we use solar panels to power a car?

Since gas prices are going up, we need more ideas for more gas efficient cars. I know they have already made electric cars, but could they put a solar panel on the top so you could have a self energized car? If you needed to drive at night you could have an extra battery and/or have extra stored up energy in your car from it being out in the daytime. Could this be done? Can there be other power generators such as mini hydro-electric generators? Or is there problems with using these generators?

There are some cars that already do this, but it is not piratical for commercial uses.

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I live in Hawaii and the cost of living is very high. I was wondering if I could save a bundle of money installing solar pannels for electricity instead of paying a monthly bill. I know it costs a lot of money to install solar pannels but in the long run inflation will just raise your bills like crazy. I heard in the mainland the cost of living is way cheaper and I am planning to move up there but will installing a solar pannel save me a lot of money if I live in the mainland?

Solar saves money over a long period of time, if at all. If you plan to move soon, then it’s not likely you will get your money back from installing a solar system of any kind.

If you are in Honolulu, a solar water heater will pay for itself in 4 years, assuming it replaces an electric. Your electric rates are about 15 to 20 cents per kWh. If you’re in rural Molokai and paying 50 cents, the payback will be faster. Try walking your neighborhood (or just use Google map, satellite view), and you’ll probably see that about half the houses have solar.

For solar electric, the case is less certain. Call a local solar company to get a quote. It will definitely take longer to pay back than solar hot water. Hawaii gets a lot of sun, but it also has a lot of scattered clouds, so the average sun per day is really no better than my part of California.

Whether solar saves money on the mainland totally depends on the local incentives. Arizona and Colorado have fantastic incentives. California’s incentives are rapidly declining, but electricity is expensive here, so solar still makes sense in many cases. We have panels on our roof.

Essay Prompt…What is the most important environmental problem we face and why? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

I believe the most telling environmental problem that the United States (and many other countries) will face in the near future will be the transition away from a fossil fuel based society. In order to accomplish this, we must make a concerted push towards an environmentally conscious, technologically advanced, and humanistic renewable energy generation. The resources available to achieve this are essentially limitless, with new ways to utilize them being introduced almost daily. As a matter of fact, there are some extremely promising options that are already in use, such as the production of wind, solar, and geothermal energy. Ultimately though, it will be public policy and political decision makers which will dictate whether or not these efforts are successful, halfhearted, or even pursed at all.

Let me know what I can do to improve this, best answer will get best answer….

It depends what grade you are in because I’m a sophomore and my lit teacher said you should avoid saying I, you, or we in essays. For example when you said "I believe" at the beginning, you could try to state that in a different way..? I’m no writing expert so I’m not exactly sure.

like installing solar panels in the sahara desert

That would be a good idea but the problem that there could face would be the money. Africa would face hard time if they decide to spend there money on solar panel rather than food for the dying children.
The advantages would be probley save more money .

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electron flow is neg to positive

we are in the middle of building our stables. i will have no power unless i get a generator. i was looking at solar light. i haven’t used them before. i wondered if anyone else had? are they any good?
and it is solar lights i am asking about, not solar panels.
Layla i have asked on horses as i want to know how good they are in a stable.
not how they work.
th

Solar Light 9sqm 10 LEDs Stable/Feed Store/Shed
£25.99
is what i am looking at…

thinking of getting my friend one who has same problem. QVC has a good double light for £39, check it out on qvc.co.uk, if you buy now, can return up and till 25th January if you find it doesnt work for you, you do have to pay the postage for returned items. hope that helps

The building in which i am a service engineer has 10 solar pannels on the roof that are aapproxamitley two years old when inspecting the outside of the unit i noticed that the black skin has rust corrosion blemishes in the membrane what affect is this likely to have on the performance of the solar pannels will they be faulty when the summer comes.

they dont just work in the summer, they work all year round they are just more efficient in the summer.
yes i think this may have an effect, it won’t be so efficient, they should contact the installer to get these replaced byt the manufactuer

As you may be aware, burning fossil fuels is sadly still our primary means of obtaining energy on this planet. However, it is clear that we MUST NOT continue on this path or else humanity will face incomprehensible doom.

So, I’d like to know:
Which energy source, in your opinion, would be the most promising for us, as a species, in order to ensure our long-term energy needs are met?? Please provide your reasoning for how it is the best solution for humanity.

For example, I personally see the greatest potential in "Space-Based Solar Power". Unlike trying to capture solar energy from on the earth’s surface, which is generally not sufficient enough to compete with other alternative energy sources, capturing energy from space is abundant far beyond necessity. In fact, the energy available from space is EASILY abundant enough to power the world if we implement a space-based system on a wide scale. Yet, it will certainly cost money and effort to get the panels up and implement the energy around the world. Yet, I still see this as the most promising solution of any I’ve considered for meeting humanity’s long-term energy needs and, likewise, our species’ survival.

What solution do you propose?? Why??

Thanks in advance!

You don’t speak of one fossil fuel, but all of them. Same is true for renewable energy; we will use all of them combined in their best locations.

Space based solar will not be produced on earth, it costs too much to move the equipment up there. We aren’t planning to return to the moon for at least a decade, so sometime after that before we even start on such a grand project even if it is worthy of our effort.

I’m doing a Capstone Project, and i need help on figuring out if my school uses Solar energy, what are the advantages

Schools would be an excellent use for solar energy, if you are in an area that gets a lot of sunshine, however solar panel also work on cloudy days just not as well as clear days.
but most schools do not use solar energy unless it comes from a utility company, that get it energy from solar.
While solar energy is expensive to install, it is more economical in the long run.

I need to know where I can buy the parts or find them as scrap to make my own solar panels. Is there a cheap way of buying the panels or can I make them myself.

Unless you have a silicon fab in your basement to make silicon wafers, you aren’t making your own solar panels and there is nothing about this idea at all that will be "cheap".

Your entire idea may be nobel on one level, but it also points out just how uninformed on the subject you are. As an example of what I mean, buying the solar panels is not actually a problem, but it is apparently the only part of the problem you can get your head around, so this is where you are starting with your questions.

Let me throw out a few things for you to consider. First, solar panels tend to be fairly expensive. The absolute cheapest I have ever heard quoted are in the several dollar per watt range and when bought in small quantities, it will likely be up to around $10 per watt.

I have no idea what you want to power, but lets just say you want to run a TV using solar. A TV can easily use 200 watts or more of power, so in the small quantities you are talking about, they could cost $1000 to $2000! If you actually have visions of powering more than this, just add more $$$.

Now, do you realize the solar panel puts out unregulated DC and to run most things, you will need regulated AC so now you need a certain type of inverter. Add some more $$$.

I’ll further guess that you want to actually connect this to the power in your home in some fashion. No utility company in the country will allow you to connect your contraption to their power unless it meets their standards and the work is done by a licensed electrician. More $$$.

The fact is, the only way any of this is economical viable for anyone is because of the incentives that the various levels of government and utilities are currently offering. However, attempting to do it on the "cheap" as you are will also doom you to not being able to qualify for any of the incetivives which are out there.

Here is an installer in AZ who does this work and does it correctly such that you would qualify for the various incentives. Pay special attention to the costs.