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Re:Toyota is trying to put solar panels on a Prius to charge... by bloak on Friday September 13, 2019 @08:28AM (#20961458)
If solar panels are the bottleneck then they shouldn't be wasted on people's rooves, either. They should put them in a big field where the electricity company can point them in the optimal direction, perhaps with a device to redirect them during the day, or mirrors, and look after them properly: clean them, if that helps, or whatever.
Re:Toyota is trying to put solar panels on a Prius to charge... by Retric on Friday September 13, 2019 @09:29AM (#20961923)
Tracking and concentration is not cost effective, so it’s just a tilt advantage.

Solar panels in a remote location need to be converted from DC to AC for transmission, then transmitted long distances with associated losses, then converted to DC again to charge the car, stored in batteries in the car with associated losses. A solar roof could actually be a net gain assuming the energy is used while the car is in motion, and it’s used near the equator so no tilt required.