PV Gap

Jeremy Said:

Do you think it would be a good idea if electric cars were equipped with solar panels?

We Answered:

Good thought could stay charged a lot longer that way ?

Wallace Said:

Will solar panels, a wind mill and a backup battery bank provide enough power to run a 100hp electric motor?

We Answered:

this is a very large installation! 100 HP is 75 kW, not counting for losses, which will get you to about 100kW.

You need to decide how long you will run the motor on batteries on days with no sun or wind. Every 8 hours without sun or wind multiplies the number of batteries. For 5 days, it's a huge number.

For example, suppose you buy expensive 100 amp-hr batteries. And you only let then discharge 50%. Then you will get 1kW-hr out of one battery. To get 75 kW for one hour, you will need 75 of these. for 10 hours, 750 of them. for 100 hours (4 days) you get to 7500 of them!

that's a large building full of batteries. And a staff of people to maintain them and replace them as needed.

$300 each x 7500 is $2 million. Multiply by 5 for chargers and storage space. $10 million.

That's not mentioning the solar arrays and wind turbines.