Utilizing free wheeling prop spin

[LakeSuperior]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

Then it wont be free apinning and produce drag.

Water generation is more efficient than wind generation, all things being equal.

Efficient in what respect? What do we mostly care about when passaging...boat speed? Then power generation using water certainly slows the boat more than wind generation.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by robmclennan

funjohnson Mark you answered my post with your answer. The tiny solar panel on Toyota and Fords is not designed to recharge the battery pack, but to run a small circulating fan on the interior of said vehicles.

Never said it was for propulsion....you wondered why they never had solar on a hybrid, but they do. Regardless, it shows how inefficient solar is vs size.

[David M]

The charging rate of a solar panel on the roof of a vehicle would be a drop in the bucket compared to the energy that an electric car must store in its batteries for the car to be worthwhile. This is true even if you put a solar panel on the hood and the trunk.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by David M

The charging rate of a solar panel on the roof of a vehicle would be a drop in the bucket compared to the energy that an electric car must store in its batteries for the car to be worthwhile. This is true even if you put a solar panel on the hood and the trunk.

Didn't one of the colleges have a bunch of students come up with a "car" that went coast to coast on solar power? Practical, not today. Also I think a plane something like the Solar Gosymer (sp?). Probably by time of the next Solar Eclipse. I think it is battery technology driven more than piezoelectric technology.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by robmclennan

Have you ever wondered why hybrid and electric vehicles don't incorporate a solar cell on the Roof and Hood? Because a 10 year old student got a patent! No one wants to buy the patent, or lease the technology!

Sounds apocryphal to me.

What about these vehicles?
https://thinkprogress.org/prius-sola...-2b929f467061/
https://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/
Dutch startup puts first solar powered family car on market | NL Times
SUNN Solar Electric Kit Car Vehicle

More details of this alleged patent please. Patent Number?

[GILow]

Originally Posted by robmclennan

: Have you ever wondered why hybrid and electric vehicles don't incorporate a solar cell on the Roof and Hood?:

Err.... because the energy consumed carrying around the extra weight would use up most of the power consumed?

Sorry, I think my tinfoil hat just fell off.