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submitted 9 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

Scientists develop mega-thin solar cells that could be shockingly easy to produce: ‘As rapid as printing a newspaper’::These cells could be laminated onto various kinds of surfaces, such as the sails of a boat to provide power while at sea.

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[-] Ullallulloo@civilloquy.com 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

A car has up to 55 sq. ft. available to panel. A good solar panel gets maybe 20 W/sq. ft. efficiency. An electric car has around an 80 kWh battery. A day has roughly the equivalent of 5 hours of full sunlight.

Then you just multiply/divide everything together, and you get 14½ days.

[-] Grimy@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

If it takes 14 days to charge the battery, you just need to use it less then a 14th of its range per day and this all becomes very feasible, no? First link on google tells me high efficiency EVs output 6.4km per kwh. That's 30 km a day at 80kwh, nothing to scoff at in my opinion, although its probably less.

I also think it could become popular to lengthen the in between charging times with higher capacity batteries.

+1 for the use of wolfram

[-] frezik@midwest.social 1 points 9 months ago

Then factor in the extra cost of the panels and connecting hardware. The ones mentioned in OP are supposed to be dirt cheap, but they're also half as efficient. The tradeoff cancels out the benefit.

Also, this won't help highway driving much. EVs have already solved city driving just fine. 100mi range will do, even without good charging stations outside your home (with caveats for apartment dwellers). Highway range is where we need improvement, but you can't ask people to just drive for 1/14th of the day there.

[-] JungleJim@sh.itjust.works 0 points 9 months ago

Fair enough. That definitely is true for a car. I would wonder whether the power/surface area/weight/energy consumption all scale linearly or if a vehicle like a semi with more surface area could take advantage of increased number solar panels, or would the amount of work needed to move the larger truck scale equally to the power gained?

Thank you for your proving reasoning for your opinions and sources. You're groovy. Don't feel like you have to again for this random thought of mine unless it's enjoyable for you as part of our conversation.

[-] frezik@midwest.social 2 points 9 months ago

Wait, what the fuck, dude. I had given you the math for semi trucks two hours before you posted this. You already had those numbers, and yet you speculate otherwise here.

[-] JungleJim@sh.itjust.works -2 points 9 months ago

That guy isn't being a dick. You've got a bad attitude and I don't like talking to you. Goodbye.

[-] wahming@monyet.cc 1 points 9 months ago

So... You denied reality because you didn't like the person explaining it to you? Grats, you're politician material now

[-] JungleJim@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago

No, I wasn't enjoying one conversation in the room so I went to talk to somebody else. I'm not required to talk to them and I am free to explore a topic with someone else without citing previous discussions I've had. I deny nothing that guy said, though I also don't take it as face value when they also ignored my points in the thread, I'd just rather talk to this person about it if they'd care to.

[-] frezik@midwest.social -1 points 9 months ago

I'm often a dick to people arguing dishonestly. Guilty.

[-] JungleJim@sh.itjust.works -1 points 9 months ago

Oh just fuck off. You're seriously chasing me around the comment section, butthurt because I'd rather talk to somebody less unpleasant. You're not changing my perspective if that's why you're doing it.

this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2023
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