I am surprised not to see more conversation on Tesla Glass? I see a lot about a possible HUD, but my understanding of Tesla Glass is that it will be a solar glass roof that can charge the battery from the sun. If so, while driving during the day, sitting in a parking lot, the battery could be charging. The rumors are that Model 3 will have this as at least an option. IMO this could be a much bigger feature than a HUD. Am I mistaken on this?
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The amount of power you'd get from a solar roof or glass would be negligible. Best case scenario will still be < 300W in full sun. Compare that to a charge at home that is 10,000W using the mobile connector. My 2003 Mercedes had a small panel to run the interior fans to keep the car cool. That was a neat feature.
http://i44.tinypic.com/ddc4f8.jpg
Oh yeah and the full pano-roof had a motorized sunshade too.
http://i44.tinypic.com/ddc4f8.jpg
Oh yeah and the full pano-roof had a motorized sunshade too.
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mal_tsla
Member
I'm not totally up to date on theoretical solar panel efficiency, but last I checked you could get about 250 watts about of a 3x5 foot panel. Let's assume Model 3 can generate two panel's worth of power.
A standard outlet (NEMA 5-15) can charge the car at 1,400 watts and adds 3 miles per hour of charging time.
2X a single panel would generate 500 watts of power. Assuming similar efficiency between solar and the UMC, the solar roof would charge the car at 1.07 miles per hour.
If the car was parked outside for a full workday (8 hours), it could add about 8.6 miles of range assuming conditions are ideal for solar panels (sunny day, summer time, etc).
This would indeed be pretty cool, but I'm assuming the cost of such a charging set up + solar panels would greatly outweigh the benefits.
I'm not sure I would pay anything extra at all for such a slow charging rate, when at home the vehicle is connected to an HPWC and
charging at a comparatively-supersonic 48 miles per hour. It would take just 11 minutes of charging at home to add the same 8 miles of range.
Thoughts?
A standard outlet (NEMA 5-15) can charge the car at 1,400 watts and adds 3 miles per hour of charging time.
2X a single panel would generate 500 watts of power. Assuming similar efficiency between solar and the UMC, the solar roof would charge the car at 1.07 miles per hour.
If the car was parked outside for a full workday (8 hours), it could add about 8.6 miles of range assuming conditions are ideal for solar panels (sunny day, summer time, etc).
This would indeed be pretty cool, but I'm assuming the cost of such a charging set up + solar panels would greatly outweigh the benefits.
I'm not sure I would pay anything extra at all for such a slow charging rate, when at home the vehicle is connected to an HPWC and
charging at a comparatively-supersonic 48 miles per hour. It would take just 11 minutes of charging at home to add the same 8 miles of range.
Thoughts?
If this is in fact the math for Tesla glass, I would definitely agree. Unless it's free, it's not something worth an expensive upgrade at all.
Please provide a source that supports your "understanding", because Tesla has not announced anything like what you describe as far as I know. Since you posted in the Model S forum, I assume your reference to a "battery" means a car battery.
There were news stories last year that mistakenly reported that Tesla would announce a solar car roof. They were wrong. What Tesla did announce was solar tiles for home roofs. See Funny. Tesla Cars with Solar Roofs - Someone Says
Didn't the Fisker have a solar roof - that could only supply enough power to help with the accessories (not the drive train)?
While it sounds like a cool idea (Mr. Fusion would be even better!), seems unlikely Tesla would add more complexity for a solar roof that generated a small amount of power and increased the cost of the cars.
On the Model X - where would you even put it? The roof glass on the falcon wing doors?
While it sounds like a cool idea (Mr. Fusion would be even better!), seems unlikely Tesla would add more complexity for a solar roof that generated a small amount of power and increased the cost of the cars.
On the Model X - where would you even put it? The roof glass on the falcon wing doors?
1. There are a few solar roof threads on TMC. I suggest moving to one.
2. Some people can't charge at home, some people can't install solar at home.
3. A solar roof 'today' would collect on average a few % of a car's annual mileage. Most would agree that's not worth the big picture impact. For a number of reasons, in a decade or two that number will be more like 10-20% annual mileage. Many would find that number significant enough to warrant a closer look.
