Iconic Old Volkswagen Bus Gets Solar Power

20 thoughts on “Iconic Old Volkswagen Bus Gets Solar Power”

• Are there any production cars, trucks etc that use solar for part of the electricity they use besides the small solar panel on the Nissan leafs?
  What would be the electricity production if the Tesla’s would use embedded solar cells in their glass roofs?
  Having some solar cells on a car, truck etc could keep a battery warm in the winter and maybe the AC on low in summer?

  • A fan on medium maybe?

  • Not quite in the category but the Organic Transit ELF is a production electric assist pedal tricycle with a covered cab and a solar panel on top. One day sitting in full sun charges the battery for something like a 10-15 mile range.

  • The microscopic (~5W?) solar panel on the Leaf is probably just sufficient to compensate for standby loads and self-discharge on its 12V lead-acid accessory battery.
    Hopefully the energy it harvests is enough to offset its own weight… [related xkcd “what if”]

    The Fisker Karma came with a solar roof. Pretty cool, save for the tacky zig-zag design across it. 300 to 400 W, I’d reckon?
    http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/8xKHqrRTlJAN7Ot5d93fAA–/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYwMA–/http://media.zenfs.com/en_sg/News/AFP/5ddd0dca33396772c7b0dc3b37666d41322f632c.jpg

    VIA Motors apparently offers a 800 W solar tonneau cover for its pick-ups, which “can add up to 5 to 10 miles of additional electric range on long sunny days” [link] (yeah, that’s probably very optimistic).

  • I agree with you, whole top can be covered solar PV cells on EV, Hybrid or gas vehicle.

    Now how much electricity should it generate. Enough to charge all the gadgets of occupants, keep the interior of the vehicle coller in summers, if possible should keep battery topped (in winter for gas vehicles) or atleast should not make jump start from outside source.

    Another thing I would want to see is that efficiency of solar PV panel to go up substantially and at affordable price. May be double or triple, so that smaller panel is enough not the size of out-sized on this bus.

• Zero technical details? Whatt kind of solar cell? How many batteries? How big an electric motor. range, speed, smell, anything?

  I’m positive that the rear overhang of that panel is illegal.

  It isn’t clear if this is driven anyplace but solar-powered car events.

  You could have simply tweeted, “Oh goody! A solar-powered microbus!”

  • Hey Fuzzman, here are some technical details regarding what was used. Daniel is a good friend of mine.

    • Elmo motor controller
    • Moog brushless motor
    • Solbian solar-electric modules (10, 130-watt modules on the bus; 20, 100-watt modules on trailer)
    • Genasun solar controllers
    • Manzanita Micro battery charger
    • Boston Power’s Swing 5300 lithium-ion batteries

    The Bus can go up to 74 mph, but that wastes more energy than taking a slower, flatter route. Without sun, the bus’ range is about 35 miles.

    Owner of the Bus drives this to and from work, and picks his kids up from school in it. Pretty practical for driving in Cambridge. The bus was built to comply with local laws, so the overhang is not illegal.

    • Is there some Facebook or Twitter where I can follow that project?

    • It can’t be legal. The cell overhang is a hazard and will decapitate a truck driver if he gets too close.

      Not that it will ever go fast enough, but there are big aerodynamic problems as well. Prepare for take off.

    • I have no reason to doubt that image is of an electric vehicle and maybe those panels could be used to help replenish the battery when parked but there is no way that vehicle as shown could drive at 50mph without the panels at the front peeling back (frankly I’d expect that to happen at 20mph or below). Why don’t you ask your friend if the vehicle is intended to be driven with those panels deployed as shown.

• Why hasn’t a solar covered roof become standard on delivery trucks in the southwest? Use electric A/C and a belted motor like the Buick Lucerne.

  • It’s okay for an empty VW bus. Delivery vehicles require more power.

    • A KW of solar on the roof of a truck would run the a/c all day, and, allow start -stop so the engine is off unless moving. It would save at least a gallon of fuel a day.

• I think it was Larry Hagman who was the first to power a bus with PV , well his own caravan:

  http://www.larryhagman.com/solarpress.html

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeb42nQZRqg

  Shine baby shine 🙂

  I plan to transport a Solarworld glas-to-glas panel (“protect”) on a roof rack about 1,000 Miles from Germany to Ireland on a VW-Golf. What do the specialists think: will it survive? Will I be fined? Will I save ?

• It’s interesting and cool in a funky sort of way. I’m glad someone invested the time, money and work to make it. But I’m not betting on a production version of something like this from VW. Part of the reason a vintage ’66 Bus works in this application is that it’s super light in weight . . . well under a ton. A new VW Microbus – one that might not kill all the occupants in a crash – probably weighs twice as much. Imagine the size of the take-it-with-you PV panel array you’ll need for that.

  Solar PV car ports with battery storage probably makes more sense at the end of the day if we want a lot of us to be “driving on sunshine.” in modern/safe roadworthy vehicles.

  • From a practical standpoint, Tesla’s solar supercharging stations seem like a great way to get there, but I can’t help but wonder if First Solar couldn’t help somebody put together some thin film roof pannels that don’t really add much weight, but if you want to out do this VW, might want to figure out how to build a computerised tracker for the roof for when it’s sitting.

    • RVs already have self-leveling jacks. Just mount the panels and track with the van…. ;o)

• If they build it, we will come

• As ridiculous as this bus looks it’s really practical. However to really make it work the Cruiser Class at the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge encourages entrants into that class to build vehicles capable of carrying at least 2 people. Last years winner carried 4 passengers most of the race. It can completely charge in about 10 to 12 hours of bright sunlight & has 500 miles of range. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2767806/Meet-Stella-solar-powered-car-drives-500-miles-SINGLE-charge-warns-traffic-lights-change.html This years entrant for the same team has even longer range. These cars have to be plugged in to give back to the grid as they have a 200 miles a day of excess range.

• too cool. It seems like hanging a few on each side and one in front and back could help

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