Solar bed cover panel ?

[fredfein]

Would it be possible to have some sort of tri-fold solar panel cover for the truck bed ? If your truck sat all day in your work parking lot, this panel could help charge the batteries. But it would have to fold up and get out of the way. Think this is possible ?

 

[Frozen North]

Would it be possible to have some sort of tri-fold solar panel cover for the truck bed ? If your truck sat all day in your work parking lot, this panel could help charge the batteries. But it would have to fold up and get out of the way. Think this is possible ?

Not sure if you are joking or not.
It is in the maker already. $2300

 

[d.h.]

I thought slate had an optional solar bed cover. It's not meant to charge the truck battery
. There is also a solar generator sold separately. It's all kind of pricey, and I'm not sure how much it would help during a work day. I'm going to try solar charging at home , but my system is very small. It would be nice if work places would make metered outlets available to employees, a lot cheaper and easier than bringing your own.

 

[WV Slateman]

I'll probably design a hinge and strut system to use a large panel as a bed cover, at least until I get the cargo topper and put a panel on top. It would be a "fun" exercise, and getting several miles a day for "free" would be nice.

 

[Kopsis]

If your truck sat all day in your work parking lot, this panel could help charge the batteries.

I love my home PV system, but the reality of solar is that it's not space efficient. The available Solis tonneau cover has a max output of 300W. Even if that could directly charge the battery (it can't), after efficiency losses you'd be looking at about 1 mile range added for every two hours charging during the peak 6-hour window. If you live close enough to work where 3 miles of added range is actually useful, a bicycle makes more sense than a $2300 solar tonneau cover.

 

[fredfein]

The Slate one doesn't charge the Slate battery ?

 

[WV Slateman]

I love my home PV system, but the reality of solar is that it's not space efficient. The available Solis tonneau cover has a max output of 300W. Even if that could directly charge the battery (it can't), after efficiency losses you'd be looking at about 1 mile range added for every two hours charging during the peak 6-hour window. If you live close enough to work where 3 miles of added range is actually useful, a bicycle makes more sense than a $2300 solar tonneau cover.

Yeah, $2300 for that is ridiculous.

 

[WV Slateman]

The Slate one doesn't charge the Slate battery ?

Not directly. You'll need a charge controller, battery,
and inverter, to turn the low voltage DC into AC to plug the truck into.

 

[Kopsis]

Yeah, $2300 for that is ridiculous.

Actually, the panels are only adding $1000 (compared to the non-solar version). Three 100W automotive-grade panels at $333 each is not unreasonable, it's just not a good value if your goal is charging the truck. At $0.50/kWH that $1000 would buy you the DCFC equivalent of 333 weeks (almost 7 years) of workday parking lot solar charging.

However, if you need off-grid power for something like jobsite use, the Solis toneau plus a power bank might make more sense. 300W can charge quite a few DeWalt tool batteries.

 

[WV Slateman]

Actually, the panels are only adding $1000 (compared to the non-solar version). Three 100W automotive-grade panels at $333 each is not unreasonable, it's just not a good value if your goal is charging the truck. At $0.50/kWH that $1000 would buy you the DCFC equivalent of 333 weeks (almost 7 years) of workday parking lot solar charging.

However, if you need off-grid power for something like jobsite use, the Solis toneau plus a power bank might make more sense. 300W can charge quite a few DeWalt tool batteries.

$333 for a 100W panel would be outrageously expensive. They're more like $100.

 

[Ferrite]

Possible? Absolutely. But its only practical for EVs that are in the 5+ mile per kwh efficiency range (Aptera if it isnt vaporware). I think the Slate SUV kit with maybe 3ish solar panels (900w total) and a 2kwh Anker or Jackery could probably do maybe 2-4 kwh on a really good day. Then there's the ridiculous payoff cost. I would just prefer ground mount or roof mount solar panels and a powerwall kind of situation.

 

[darisb]

I looked into this just yesterday. The problem is the Solis panel on the Maker is low voltage and the Slate battery is higher voltage. It's meant for charging something like a Jackery. It would be cool if could charge the Slate while you're at work for 9 hours..

 

[Frozen North]

Maybe you need something more like this.