New solar roof technology from Panasonic could eventually end up in Tesla’s Model 3 – BGR

This past November, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter and floated the idea ofoffering a solar roof option for the Model 3. When asked outright if Tesla had plans to embed solar panels in the roof, Musk replied that they would probably offer that as an option.

Right off the bat, Musks tweet seemed overly optimistic, if not downright absurd.While a solar roof capable of harnessing the suns power and charging a car as it drives is certainly intriguing, such a design is far from practical given the current state of solar technology. At the core, the size of the Model 3s roof would only be big enough for a solar panel that would, at best, manage to tack on an extra mile or two of range per day. In effect, implementing a solar roof would be far more trouble than its worth.

Earlier this week, however, Panasonic unveiled a new a type of solar panel technology designed specifically for cars. Dubbed theHITPhotovoltaic Module for Automobile, the solar roof design is currently available for the Toyota Prius PHV exclusively, but that may change in the coming years.

What makes Panasonics work here so intriguing is that the design houses new technology which makes it possible to actually charge lithium-ion batteries, the very same which power Teslas fleet of vehicles.

Panasonics press release reads:

Panasonics solar cells have a unique structure that combines a crystalline silicon substrate and an amorphous silicon film, and feature high conversion efficiency and excellent temperature characteristics.

Conventional automotive solar cells can output up to several tens of watts and have been used only for the auxiliary charging of 12 V batteries and ventilation power sources for parked cars; however, the use of the features of Panasonics solar cells allow a high output (approx.180 W) in a limited area on a cars roof, enabling the charging of the drive lithium-ion batteries as well as 12 V batteries, resulting in a possible extension of an EVs travel distance and increased in fuel economy.

An added bonusis that Panasonics solar roof can be designed to match a cars existing design, thereby enabling an efficientinstallation process.

That said, a lot more work still needs to be done before solar roofs become an add-on worth paying for, or even considering. Even with Panasonics solar roof advancements, a parked car equipped with a solar roof panel might still only be able to eek out an additional 3-4 miles of range per day.While that could certainly add up over time, itshardly a game-changer. Additionally, consider this: the aforementioned Toyota Prius PHV would reportedly need about a full week to go from empty to full charge via a solar roof alone.

In the meantime, Tesla owners can look forward to next-gen Supercharger technology which Musk last year hinted would be a huge leap forward.

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New solar roof technology from Panasonic could eventually end up in Tesla's Model 3 - BGR