Sweden's wholesale electricity prices is ~€32/MWh in July 2023, so this is equivalent to a savings of €256/truck/year. My initial impression is that the juice is not worth the squeeze, but wondering if someone with more context would provide arguments for solar roofs on vehicles.
I know Hyundai (Ioniq 5) and Toyota (Prius) are also offering solar roof options on their cars, so there must be a good reason. The Prius, under ideal sunny conditions, can reasonably get to 1.1KWh/day (or 3.2mi of range), which is nothing to sneeze at, but still relatively small in the large scheme of things.
https://www.motortrend.com/features/the-2023-toyota-prius-pr...
There are two concept cars I know of that can actually get enough power from the solar panels on them to be useful. One of them is the Aptera, which is a no-compromise low energy vehicle. It's tear drop shaped and can only hold two people, so it's going to be a bit niche.
The second is the Lightyear solar electric vehicle, which is shaped a bit more like a standard car but is going to cost luxury car money for an ultra lightweight (read: no soundproofing) car.
And to what advantage? Charge per year doesn't matter, since you're recharging multiple times per year anyway there's no difference between the panels being on the car vs the ground, other than panels on the ground can be directed more optimally and don't add to the weight of the car.
Charge per day matters, and taking a 500 mile trip up to maybe 600 miles (on a perfect sunny day) isn't that big an improvement in practical terms.
Meanwhile, for us mortals: There's something to be said for using solar panels to power aircon/heaters/utilities/etc while the car is stationary outdoors.
Ever been to Sweden. I read somewhere that the sun shines there for half a year, uninterrupted. /s
When you see solar panel mounted on a road/bike path/under train tracks/car/truck you should instantly recognize a scam.
I’m not saying it’s an either/or because you can have both, but it does seem like this is potentially overly complex for minimal gains.
The individual may be minimal but the overall cumulative benefit may be worth it.