10 comments

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  shabaz

  10 months ago

  still pushing consumerism chris?
  still pushing pie in the sky gadgets too.
  toyota will never install solar cells on a car, probably because then they have to warranty them.
  1 kw??? go google shopping and try to find a 1kw panel, huge. toyota prius, small.
  but but but new technology will make it all possible....pie in the sky, and you're pushing this fantasy.
  why not unicorns or alternate dimensions or AI or something else that "could" exist.
  
  i have berated you in the past for caring more about quantity then quality in your "news" efforts
  and here I am again, courtesy of stumble upon by the way, greatly disappointed by the green movement.
  Green has got to be more then a marketing slogan. You are trying too hard to be the next hot thing.
  you are selling out your beliefs by trying to make money at this.
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  chrisbaskind

  10 months ago

  I think the 1 kilowatt figure -- widely reported in the automotive press -- is high: 250 to 500 watts is probably what we'll see in production. In any case, it's a good thing. A better move, of course, would be to bicycle. But that's not news.
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  jez

  10 months ago

  1kw isnt so small as to not need to use the excess to charge the batteries, quite the opposite, if they can make a solar panel small enough to fit a car that can make 1kw it will be a miracle
  
  1kw at say 10 hours a day will drive you for miles, and is not 'so little' not everyone needs the aircon on , but thats a lot of power for topping up batteries
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  DigitalMind

  10 months ago

  1 Kilowatt of panels is a LOT ! I installed 30 watts of solar panels in my sisters off-grid house and that gave her lights for the first time (click on my name to see that write-up). I think if 1000 Watts isn't enough to power a car air conditioner, it's the AC units that need working on.
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  Mr. Candid

  10 months ago

  Hey Shabaz,
  lighten up!
  Modern solar panels are approaching 20% efficiency , while this may seem quite low consider that this is double of what solar panels were 20 years ago, I think it's high time the auto makers do something to reduce our dependency on oil, I'm quite sure once Toyota starts this,the other auto makers will follow suit and the technology will improve.
  
  It's a small step, but it's a step in the right direction
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  shabaz

  10 months ago

  oh Mr. Candid you do put a smile on my face but lighten up, no, probably not.
  This is a "symbolic gesture", of course the automakers will put solar all over cars if it sells, it's called the flavor of the month and it is not a step in the right direction.
  When has the auto industry done squat except maximize it's profit at the expense of all humanity?
  Look i know you want a Prius, i want a Prius, we all want a Prius because the PRIUS IS A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING TOOL. Toyota is not filling demand, it is creating demand. Should that be ok? If a sucker is really born every minute is it ok to take advantage of them? I guess as long as they're just Rubes it's ok. right.
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  rajiv seth

  10 months ago

  no mention of the environmental cost of producing this gimmick -
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  Jeff - ScienceSays.net

  10 months ago

  I wrote about this a while back as well: http://www.sciencesays.net/2008/07/solar-powere...
  
  
  I think it's a great idea, but I hope it's not just a gimmick - air conditioning can be a huge drain on fuel, but if the solar panels aren't up to the task, it could set solar cars back ages.
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  Carlo Zottmann

  10 months ago

  I like the idea.
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  Daniel

  10 months ago

  How about the next Prius be a bicycle.
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