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Technically Speaking
S
R Rooftop Solar
ooftop
olar

Hits the Road

by Dave Trecker
unshine provides about 3% of all energy used in the United Imagine the tadpole sitting in your driveway soaking up and
States. We harness it for things like electricity, heating, storing the sun’s rays. You pop out and drive to the grocery store.
Smanufacturing and transportation. Then, later in the day, you make a run to a nearby shopping center.
And, although the sun isn’t getting any brighter, solar energy is And with energy stored in the battery, you cruise to dinner at a
gaining in stature. Utilities love it, especially those in areas with lots neighborhood restaurant at night.
of sunshine. Its energy can be used on the spot or directed to the The price for all this fun? A Wall Street Journal article says about
grid. Its tilted panels, considered eyesores by many, cover fields and $40,000 in 2026 when a limited number of these vehicles will be
dot hillsides, powering homes in Southwest Florida and other sunny available. With other automakers jumping in and with any kind of
locales. production volume, the price could drop dramatically.
Rooftop solar is a subset that avoids some of the unsightliness Big question: Can the wraparound panels withstand wear and
of solar fields and delivers power over short distances to where it’s tear like hail stones whacking them at a hundred miles an hour in
needed most. On homes the panels can be embedded in roofing a storm? Yes, say Aptera engineers. The chemically treated glass can
tiles. On flattop warehouses and other commercial buildings, the withstand a hailstorm.
panels are easy to install and barely visible. Even so, the little three-wheeler is unlikely to turn into a
What makes this all possible is the remarkable improvements profitable business anytime soon. A jacked-up EV is a much better
made over the years in converting light energy to usable power, in bet.
turn triggering an astonishing 5- to 10-fold drop in cost. Solar is According to the WSJ, Aptera is planning to sell its panels to
now broadly affordable as an energy source. And that affordability is Telo Trucks, a San Carlos, CA-based maker of a 500-horsepower
spawning new uses. EV. The solar boost from the panels installed flat on the vehicle’s
One of the new uses is solar-powered cars. roof and bed cover will cost about $4,000 and will add 15 to 30
Pretty exciting stuff. Sunshine propelling cars down the highway. miles to the truck’s driving range.
The vehicles that make this happen take two forms. One is a The potential is obvious and the upside is huge. Telo is said to
standalone powered only by the sun and batteries with a range of up have already received some 3,000 orders for the solar-supplemented
to 40 miles a day. The other, less radical, is a conventional EV with truck.
rooftop panels to extend its driving range. Other companies are jumping in. DartSolar wants to sell its
The standalone, developed by Aptera Motors of Carlsbad, CA, panels to owners of existing EVs. The cost for roof-mounted solar
has wrap-around solar panels on three sides of a tadpole-shaped panels would range upward to $4,000 and, best of all, the panels
three-wheeler. With a capacity of only two adults, it’s essentially an could be repaired or replaced.
enclosed motorcycle. Everyone says don’t get too excited. These are still early times.
But as long as the sun shines, it can get you where you want to But as WSJ’s Christopher Mims points out, today’s EVs, honed to
go–providing the destination is not too far away. high efficiency, are ready right now to take on solar panels that will
offset much of a driver’s daily mileage and cost.
Particularly in sunny climes, like Southwest Florida.
Dr. Trecker is a chemist and retired Pfizer executive living in Naples.

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