Lee Hart wrote: >> Christopher Meier wrote: >> ... Support vehicle carries the packs on a trailer, along >> with the pack-changing equipment (if necessary). Solar panels >> on the trailer keeps the next pack to be used topped off :-) > > Aha... now here's a fun idea. A normal-sized car can't carry > enough solar panels to power it. But how big a trailer can a > normal-sized car handle? Could it tow a semi-sized but very > light flatbed trailer covered with solar cells -- enough to > power the car?
Hmm, you get about 120W/m^2 peak for currently available monocrystalline panels, I believe. Say you need 10kW to cruise and pull the trailer.. Eek, that's 83 square meters! A 40ft trailer is only about 30m^2 which is worth 3.6kW. Not enough :( Evan
