Hybrid Cars and Solar Power

Hybrid electric cars try to save energy and reduce emissions wherever  possible while the car is running. Fuel efficiency is achieved when a vehicle is stopped, decelerating, or moving slowly in traffic because the gasoline engine switches off and an electric motor (which creates little or no emissions) switches on. The gasoline engine reengages only as the driver requires more power to reach higher speeds.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) can actually save energy and promote cleaner energy usage even when the car is turned off. When parked, they charge their batteries using electricity supplied from the grid and thereby increase the driving time possible without the use of the gasoline engine. The environmental impact of PHEVs can be quite favorable, depending on source of the energy (coal vs. wind vs.natural gas) used to generate the electricity supplied to the electric grid.

The ability for passenger vehicles to harness the sun (i.e. install solar panels on cars themselves) provides a another potential solution to the challenge to:

• Increase fuel economy, and
• Create cars that are more environmentally friendly.

The question is how to best use this solar resource cost-effectively within the current limits of this rapidly evolving technology.

Hybrid Cars with Solar Panels on the Roof

There are a number of car manufacturers, including.Toyota, Audi, and Fisker, that are beginning to install solar panels on select models of their hybrid vehicles. In some cases such a move is more symbolic than practical as it appears to be very difficult to generate sufficient power to move a vehicle or materially contribute to its propulsion power requirement exclusively from the sun. Consequently there is virtually no direct impact on fuel efficiency. However, the power generated from these solar roof panels is typically enough to power part of an air-conditioner unit, which means less drag on the gasoline engine.