Solar Panel Tonneau Cover

[Kiggulak]

Not going to comment about the size, the state of fragility, or any of the other arguments presented above...I only wonder if the trickle charge is really worth the cost of the system.

$4K minimum in this system for 10 miles or less battery capacity (~1% of SR F150 battery KWH) plus double charge time. Sun time to charge the bed rail batteries and time parked to trickle charge the F150. Not sure on the system's ability to solar charge and output at the same time. So limited miles with long time to recoup said miles.

VS

$22K to step up from Pro SR to XLT ER for 70 miles of more battery capacity at launch from home or remote charger. Seems like 7x the range for less than 7x the price per mile plus multiple other features included in the $22K step up.

Damn I talked myself out of placing a reservation for this system, and am once again debating the merits for going SR Pro->ER XLT. Everyone's talking orders opening I just want the online configurator to know for sure what the XLT step up enables.

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[KONG92082]

I said on the 'verge of the truck being too fragile' and my opinion was in reference to the panels and potential damage, also in limiting the use of the truck bed for gravel mulch etc.

Counter part, how would spending $4-12,000 for 10 extra miles a day (and that's a very generous guess as how far the panels would allow range extension) be worth the cost?
Given:

My question is: If you had two panels charging the battery while parked at work for 8-10 hours in the sun, how much of a charge would that provide? would it offset 50-100 miles traveled in a day?

 

[adoublee]

My question is: If you had two panels charging the battery while parked at work for 8-10 hours in the sun, how much of a charge would that provide? would it offset 50-100 miles traveled in a day?

Hilarious. You might get 5 sun-hours per day and each panel might be 400W. That is 4kWh per day. At 2.5 miles per kWh, you just got yourself 10 miles.

However, those 2 solar panels will only produce about 80VDC and your pack is in the range of 400V. So, gonna have to add a charge controller with DC to DC conversions that are going to steal some of that energy back, assuming there is even a feasibly way to get access to the pack voltage.

 

[Avocadodude]

I've been looking at doing something like this myself (modifying existing cover, but can't get around the limitation/value prop just yet). Trying to educate myself on direct DC charging as that seems to be the only way. Putting panels in to charge batteries that run an inverter that powers a L1 charger just seems super inefficient (DC-AC-DC, of course this is farmer engineering so probably someone much smarter has it figured out)
From the Worksport site"
How much power will the cover generate?
Depending on the trucks bed size, up to 1000+ Watts using monocrystalline solar panels at about 22% efficiency.

 

[RickLightning]

Not going to comment about the size, the state of fragility, or any of the other arguments presented above...I only wonder if the trickle charge is really worth the cost of the system.

It's not.

 

[Griddlez]

We know the system is 4k? I was about to make a comment about some tonneau cover's are already 2k .. if they could keep the cost around the same this would look/work even better.

 

[hturnerfamily]

o.k., but let's talk about the 'elephant' in the room....

nobody has mentioned 'how' this miniscule power would even GET to the traction battery...
Unless you have it connected to a J1772 plug, there's no reason for any of this discussion to go any further. Even if you 'could' have a plug on the end to 'plug in' to the truck, WHILE DRIVING(that's a crazy thought), the truck won't let it 'charge' while it's in gear. So, you have a lot of problems to overcome. Even if you could allow it to 'charge' while parked, the Mobile Charger needs a certain amount of INCOMING constant 120v power to even operate, which is highly unlikely when depending on the 'sun' for power. Unless you connected these solar panels to a BATTERY BANK, and THEN TO AN INVERTER........nope, you're barking up a loosing 'tree'....

 

[Avocadodude]

o.k., but let's talk about the 'elephant' in the room....

nobody has mentioned 'how' this miniscule power would even GET to the traction battery...
Unless you have it connected to a J1772 plug, there's no reason for any of this discussion to go any further. Even if you 'could' have a plug on the end to 'plug in' to the truck, WHILE DRIVING(that's a crazy thought), the truck won't let it 'charge' while it's in gear. So, you have a lot of problems to overcome. Even if you could allow it to 'charge' while parked, the Mobile Charger needs a certain amount of INCOMING constant 120v power to even operate, which is highly unlikely when depending on the 'sun' for power. Unless you connected these solar panels to a BATTERY BANK, and THEN TO AN INVERTER........nope, you're barking up a loosing 'tree'....

Yep

 

[RDeFran]

That's the equivalent of carrying a gallon can of gas to extend the range of an ICE. Buy a litter Honda generator that holds a half gallon and save $4k to $9k. The tech will be there one day.

 

[vandy1981]

I think you're all discounting the value of a solar tonneau for virtue signaling .

The EcoFlow Delta Pro seems to be a better bet if you're dead-set on avoiding a gas generator. Costco has a 3.6 kWh generator bundle for $3000. It includes an adapter that lets you charge the generator from a J1772 port.

 

[ShirBlackspots]

The Lightning bed is going to be about the size of a normal solar panel 5.5ft x 3.25ft... which can *ideally* do ~400W.

If the cab is blocking any sun, it's less. If the sun is at an angle (which it would be most of the day), it's less.

In Florida, on my system's best days, I get about 6 kWh of energy for each 1 kW of panels. So, for a 0.4 kW panel, that's laid flat, I would expect a best case of ~2 kWh per day.

With the Lightning efficiency at ~2 mi/kWh, you're talking ~4 miles/day, max, often probably 2-3 miles/day.

A 400W panel is usually around 41" wide, by 86" long

 

[Blainestang]

A 400W panel is usually around 41" wide, by 86" long

OK, so it's even bigger than my estimate, meaning the output of the solar cover would be even worse.

The ROI is incredibly bad. 2kWh is like $0.28 of electricity per day, and that's a generous estimate of output. So, $100/year of electricity, if the planets align every day.

 

[ShirBlackspots]

OK, so it's even bigger than my estimate, meaning the output of the solar cover would be even worse.

The ROI is incredibly bad. 2kWh is like $0.28 of electricity per day, and that's a generous estimate of output. So, $100/year of electricity, if the planets align every day.

Also, depending on manufacturers, a 400W panel is anywhere between $225-300

 

[Avocadodude]

I think you're all discounting the value of a solar tonneau for virtue signaling .

The EcoFlow Delta Pro seems to be a better bet if you're dead-set on avoiding a gas generator. Costco has a 3.6 kWh generator bundle for $3000. It includes an adapter that lets you charge the generator from a J1772 port.

Just get two, the parallel kit, a ground neutral bond adapter and you can L2 charge . Actually kidding aside the EcoFlow seems like a decent package if your trying to go gas free.
I think a dual fuel 240v inverter generator at less than one of the EcoFlow units is the better emergency gas can.

 

[Roy2001]

This is purely gimmick.

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