First Solar: Quest for the $1 Watt

Hmm, that doesn't sound very good since i heard that Konarka is projecting $0.10 per watt in about the same time using their innovative lightweight plastic solar film cells. Additionally, the plastic cells are more efficient than photosythesis in the lab, and supply usable electricity in off angle and obstructed light conditions. They make the photoelectic layers out of dye you could spray on like an ink coating. So, you could see cars in the near future that have photoelectric paint coatings.

you could see cars in the near future that have photoelectric paint coatings.

For what purpose? There's less than 100 watts available in each square foot of surface area - that's if you were 100% efficient, tracking the sun, and didn't park in the shade. You'd be doing very well to squeak out 30 watts per square foot in real life. Hardly enough to run a car for any length of time. (100hp = about 75Kw)

hmm, well most cars sit in parking lots for 4 hours at a time, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, only to be driven less than 30 miles twice. A surface of 12' x4'=48 sqft (a very small car), 48x30= 1440 w=1.44 kw for 8 hours+1 hour driving= 12.96 kw-hr. A 100 hp car does not use 100 hp driving most of the time, it is actually way less than that lese volkwagon beetles and fiat spiders would never have existed. For most driving time you are using more like 25 to 35 hp on average or less. So you need to burn (at 75kw=100 hp) maybe 22.5 kw-hr for a 1 hour roundtrip, that is half the energy demand of the vehicle from solar power alone based on your energy efficiency. So you could drive 10 to 15 miles every day on a 9 hours of charge time without outside sources of energy beyond solar, which outside of the western US would not be unusual for urban driving scenarios. Though even in the urban sprawl of the West, I live in a town of 30,000 people, near the Bay area, in California and I drive on average about 5 miles a day. A hybrid that can collect solar energy would just be that much more fuel efficient. You can drive to work on the overnight charge from the local electric source, and drive home on solar from like Santa Clara to Gilroy, never burning gasoline.

You should walk that 5 miles a day. That would save energy and make you a healthier person at the same time.

Surprisingly most towns in the West are not particularly friendly to walking, crossing the highway and all. Plus every now and then i need to drive out to a job site, and it is 100+ f for most of the summer, so walking home to get my vehicle to drive to the job would be harsh. If i lived on the coast in a town that was designed to allow walking paths that by pass highway traffic, i could see doing that. In almost any town where a freeway or highway runs there is very limited capacity for traveling along it and/or crossing it as a pedestrian (Plus the drivers are crazy, so ..). I have walked in the past, but it is just a little longer distance to travel and takes me about 20 minutes to walk. So if the weather is cool enough to be out on pavement for that long, there is summer traffic, i have no possible field visits, and i have the time, then i do walk once in a while.

Insurance Agent: Yes Mr. Doe, we are almost finished with writing up your auto insurance. Just a few more questions.

John: No problem.

Insurance Agent: Will you be using the vehicle for business or pleasure?

John: Business.

Insurance agent: Your driving distance to work?

John: Oh... about 8km.

Insurance Agent: Forgive me Mr. Doe, but you are not eligible for auto insurance.

John: What!?!!???

Insurance Agent: You are less than 15km from work.

John: And...?

Insurance Agent: You do not qualify, it's the law you know.

Insurance Agent: I'm very sorry Mr. Doe... NEXT!