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Solar Panels on a Tesla - YouTube
Channel: Electric Future
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[Music]
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electric cars and solar panels seem like
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a match made in heaven
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free clean power as long as the sun
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shines a self-reliant solar car that's
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not dependent on the power grid
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could recharge sustainably from anywhere
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you dare to venture as long as it's not
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a cloudy day
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so have you ever wondered about bolting
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solar panels on your tesla
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and why don't all electric cars come
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equipped with solar panels for a sleek
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charge-on-the-go solution
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in fact with improving solar technology
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and clever ground-up engineering
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a few self-charging solar cars are just
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at the point of coming to market
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in this video we'll delve into the
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practicalities of solar power for
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vehicles and have a look at some of the
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early adopters of this emerging
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technology
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[Music]
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in 2017 elon musk suggested that tesla
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would offer optional solar tiles on the
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roof of the model 3
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but later retracted the statement saying
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that putting solar panels on a car is
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not that helpful because the actual
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surface of the car is not that much
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and cars are often inside the least
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efficient place to put solar is on the
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car
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did you know that every hour the earth
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is hit with more energy from the sun
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than the entire world consumes in a year
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the problem is the total surface area of
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the earth is about 197 million square
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miles
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and the roof of your car is a lot less
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than that about three to ten square
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meters of usable space
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it does make a lot more sense to utilize
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the large surface area of your home
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with a solar power system like the tesla
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solar roof and charge your car from
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there
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the only problem is you have to be home
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to use it
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a car with integrated solar panels can
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recharge from any sunny parking lot in
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the world
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and if you happen to be driving in
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perfect midday conditions you can even
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charge on the go
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extending the range of your vehicle as
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you drive potentially the extra incoming
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power from the solar system could even
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allow for a smaller lighter battery
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system
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than in a comparable conventional
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electric car leading to lower vehicle
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mass and energy use in driving
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[Music]
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to understand if a solar car could
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really work we need to find out how much
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solar energy the surface
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of a car can capture and how much range
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that energy will provide
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under realistic driving conditions solar
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radiation is often measured in kilowatts
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per square meter
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so let's assume a one meter square panel
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is being hit with about one kilowatt of
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energy in direct sunlight
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unfortunately nothing in this world is
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perfectly efficient
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especially devices that take raw energy
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and transform it into useful work
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that's just thermodynamics the most
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efficient modern silicon solar cells
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you'd find on a home system only work at
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best around 20
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efficiency but unlike a house cars move
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this creates unpredictable conditions
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and can lead to sub-optimal solar panel
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angles
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you can technically cover every square
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inch of the car in panels
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but for example covering the lower door
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panels isn't going to do you much good
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as they won't get much sunlight and the
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proximity to the road will have them
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covered in a thick layer of dirt and
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dust
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every time you drive so let's take a
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sedan the size of a tesla model s
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almost five meters long and two meters
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wide and put a totally impractical
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hypothetical array of solar cells
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covering the whole plan view rectangular
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area
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of 10 square meters in direct sunlight
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it could charge its battery with at best
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20 percent of the 10 kilowatts of solar
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energy hitting it
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about 2 kilowatts with full sun for
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about 5 hours per day
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just as an approximation that's 10
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kilowatt hours of battery charge per day
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at best for comparison the long range
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plus battery option on the model s
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is 100 kilowatt hours so our giant
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imaginary square solar panel
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could charge up to 10 of its lithium ion
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battery per day
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this model has an epa estimated range of
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402 miles or 647 kilometers
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so we could be looking at gaining up to
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40 miles or 65 kilometers of range
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with this exceedingly optimistic and
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frankly unrealistic estimate potentially
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a useful extra distance
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in a more practical scenario the solar
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panels would only partially cover the
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top surfaces of the vehicle
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and have a much smaller surface area now
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no one's saying you'll get 100 of your
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power from an integrated solar panel
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system
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in the foreseeable future any solar
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tesla would still require the standard
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battery charging apparatus
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but solar could be a useful supplement
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tesla's commitment to solar energy is
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well known and the palo alto behemoth
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offers solar roof tiles in addition to
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the tesla powerwall line of energy
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storage
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products according to the 2019 impact
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report from tesla
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the average life cycle emissions from
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the model 3 are less than half those of
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an equivalent mid-sized ice car
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and if you install a solar power system
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on your home and charge your ev with
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that
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your carbon footprint can be reduced to
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almost nothing
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this was elon musk's idea in 2017 that
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car roofs are small
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and inefficiently angled platforms for
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viable solar installations
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and charging from a home solar
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installation made more sense you could
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even charge at night on stored solar and
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cheaper off-peak electricity
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however elon might have changed his mind
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confirming that the cyber truck will
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offer a solar roof option on the truck's
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bed
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on twitter elon said will be an option
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to add solar power that generates 15
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miles per day possibly more
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would love this to be self-powered
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adding fold-out solar wings would
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generate 30 to 40 miles per day
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average miles per day in u.s is 30. in a
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previous video
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we envisioned what a foldable solar
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array might look like on a cyber truck
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and you may have noticed
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we envisioned it as a military cyber
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truck and equipped
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it with some extra goodies researchers
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at nasa's jet propulsion laboratory
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and brigham young university
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collaborated to construct a prototype of
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a solar panel array that folds origami
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style to be used in space
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such a technology might be an
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interesting concept to explore in the
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automotive world on earth
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where the greater surface area could
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increase solar production of stationary
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vehicles
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when it comes down to it solar vehicles
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are all about efficiency
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it's a matter of energy to weight a
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practical solar car
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would really need to be designed from
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the ground up with reduced weight and
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low aerodynamic drag
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to create a vehicle with more favorable
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energy density
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for as far as electric cars have come in
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the last decade the energy density of
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gasoline is still far
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greater than lithium-ion batteries one
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kilogram of gasoline contains about 48
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megajoules of energy
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and lithium-ion battery packs only
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contain about 0.3
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megajoules of energy per kilogram
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gasoline still has more than 100 times
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the energy density of the batteries used
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in most electric cars this is why planes
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still use
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fuel and why we're not likely to see an
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electric 787 anytime soon
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unless a radical breakthrough in
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commercially viable battery technology
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comes into service
[416]
teams gather each year in australia to
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raise pure solar cars across the
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continent from darwin to adelaide
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under the scorching desert sun back in
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2013 a new class of racer was brought
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into the competition
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the cruiser class whereas previously the
[430]
race was simply about building
[432]
stripped-down single cedars
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now designs were welcomed for vehicles
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which could carry passengers
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with additional points being scored for
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practicality
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passenger cars which could perform under
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normal driving conditions
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consistent winners of this class have
[445]
been the evolving stella series from the
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university of eindhoven
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the team from which light year sprang in
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2016.
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this young startup is one of the most
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prominent automotive companies pursuing
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solar-powered vehicles
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this is a perfect example of engineering
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competitions and racing fueling
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innovation for consumer products
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as the lessons learned in the playground
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of the australian outback have been
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incorporated directly into light year
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one
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the first car offered by the company
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which sports five square meters of
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integrated solar cells
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along its low sweeping roof and hood
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light year one re-evaluated every
[480]
component of the car
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and used lighter materials like aluminum
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and carbon fiber
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to build a lighter vehicle with the best
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aerodynamic coefficient of any car on
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the market
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or independently driven in-wheel motors
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also lower the car's weight and improve
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powertrain efficiency
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in an interview with automotive ev
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magazine ceo lex hoofsloot described the
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positive feedback loop of weight
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reduction
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by concentrating on efficiency and light
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weight we can use batteries that are
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about half the size and weight of a
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conventional ev and half the energy
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consumption of an ev
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in the same segment we have a battery
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pack that is two-thirds the size that of
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a tesla model s and we can drive further
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than the model s
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up to 800 kilometers with good sunlight
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and a minimum range of 400 kilometers
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without any solar top up and with
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heating air conditioning
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all being used and doing high speed
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driving
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stop start and initial acceleration
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demands power and waste energy in
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proportion to mass
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typical and urban low speed situations
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whereas the power required for
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overcoming air resistance
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increases proportionally to speed cubed
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sapping energy at high speeds
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how effective the solar charging will be
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therefore depends largely on how you use
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the car to balance the energy
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usage as hoofsloot notes the light year
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1 is an electric vehicle capable of 250
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miles or 400 kilometers of high energy
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use
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driving even at night and is expected to
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achieve a rated range of 450 miles
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or 725 kilometers even without its solar
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panels
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trickling in their 1.25 kilowatts of
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extra juice
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which the company equates to 10 to 12
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kilometers or 6 to 7 miles
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for each hour of charging even while
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driving
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this means that while the car's
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self-charging is primarily a highly
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capable battery electric vehicle
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with a small solar capability lightyear
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points out that this solar charge
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adds up to 10 000 kilometers or 6200
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miles
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of free motoring per year in the
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netherlands and up to 20 000 kilometers
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or 12
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400 miles in sunnier regions like
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australia or california
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lightyear believes that by eliminating
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the steps between sun and wheel
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it should be possible to gain overall
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efficiency light year as tesla did
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before them
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are starting at the top of the market
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coming in at a premium price point of a
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hundred seventy thousand dollars
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for their first full-size luxury car
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with future plans to release smaller
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more affordable vehicles
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in the future
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sono motors on the other hand are
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starting with a more affordable 29 000
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compact family car designed for urban
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use in designing the scion prototype the
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german startup looked at driving
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patterns of real world motorists and
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found that a typical commute from home
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to work and back
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in europe or the us might be up to 16
[640]
miles or 25 kilometers
[642]
sonos proudest new technology integrates
[645]
solar cells into polymer body panels
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to replace conventional painted metal
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bodywork
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these weigh as little as four to eight
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kilograms per square meter compared to
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the five to twelve kilograms per square
[655]
meter for metal or the 10 or 20
[657]
kilograms per square meter
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of flexible or glass encased solar
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panels respectively
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importantly sono claims to be able to
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produce these at the same cost as
[666]
painted metal
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although that includes their initial
[669]
expense of building and operating a
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painting production line
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a cost which reduces per car panel as
[674]
more cars are produced
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these robust damage tolerant plastic
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body panels
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have the additional advantage of being
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capable of mounting to the sides of the
[683]
vehicle
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increasing the solar cell area on a car
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where glass panels as used by light
[688]
year might be risky vertical panels such
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as on doors however can rarely hope to
[693]
point directly towards the sun
[695]
and achieve their maximum potential and
[697]
will often be shaded entirely when
[698]
parked next to walls or other cars
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the sono founders are exploring some
[702]
other intriguing ideas
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including bi-directional charging to
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allow solar generated power
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to be fed into other cars or back into
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the grid or even used for grid connected
[712]
external renewable energy storage and
[714]
stabilization
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it's not only relative newcomers who are
[720]
adapting to new technological
[722]
innovations in solar energy
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toyota has experimented with a
[726]
demonstration prius with high efficiency
[728]
thin film triple junction cells made by
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sharp
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whose efficiency is claimed to be 34
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compared to that of their commercially
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available silicon based solar panel
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of 22.5
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[Music]
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energy solar a chinese manufacturer of
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thin film panels have also demonstrated
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prototype cars with panels that can
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harvest
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8 to 10 kilowatt hours per day and
[751]
supplied such panels to aston martin for
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their gte
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racing car
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most solar panels rely on cells made
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from semi-conducting silicon crystals
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which convert sunlight to electricity at
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around 15 to 19
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but new technologies are in the works to
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create higher efficiency solar cells
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utilizing new materials organic
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molecules such as polymers can form the
[774]
light absorbing layer in a photovoltaic
[776]
cell and could potentially be
[778]
semi-transparent
[779]
absorbing infrared light and letting
[781]
visible light pass through
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which has intriguing implications for
[784]
automotive applications
[785]
such as windows organic cells can also
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be flexible
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which can allow them to be fitted onto
[791]
uneven surfaces more effectively than
[793]
traditional glass panels
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as the future unfolds and more cutting
[797]
edge solar technologies come to market
[799]
we can see self-charging solar electric
[801]
vehicles becoming more and more
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practical
[803]
as cells get more and more efficient a
[806]
future solar technology with
[807]
efficiencies above 50
[809]
would be a game changer and probably
[810]
make solar cars ubiquitous
[816]
heavy batteries are a limiting factor in
[818]
the feasibility of solar cars
[820]
a breakthrough battery with more
[821]
favorable energy to weight
[823]
characteristics
[824]
would revolutionize electric
[825]
transportation and make solar cars far
[827]
more realistic
[829]
promising new technologies that utilize
[831]
materials like graphene solid polymers
[833]
and ceramics
[834]
are currently in research and
[835]
development and are poised to create the
[837]
next generation of powerful batteries
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with higher energy density greater
[841]
service life faster charging improved
[844]
safety
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and potentially even lower costs most
[847]
experts agree that we're likely at least
[849]
a decade out from a fundamental
[851]
commercial disruption in battery
[852]
chemistry
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but there is a massive amount of
[855]
scientific and commercial attention on
[856]
this sector
[857]
and a lot at stake so stay tuned
[861]
[Music]
[863]
so should you mount the solar panel on
[865]
your tesla well we wouldn't recommend a
[867]
homemade conversion with a heavy and
[868]
delicate
[869]
aerodynamically inefficient domestic
[871]
panel however
[872]
with fresh design of new vehicles whose
[874]
entire architecture revolves around the
[876]
solar cells
[877]
and a design philosophy of maximum
[879]
efficiency and lightweight construction
[881]
the future is bright and this technology
[883]
can be viable
[884]
do you believe in an electric future if
[886]
so please like this video and subscribe
[888]
to our channel
[889]
we showcase cutting edge sustainable
[891]
technology you may be interested in
[893]
checking out one of these videos next
[896]
thanks for watching and have a great day
[898]
[Music]
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