Cybertruck Solar Roof + Cover Potential [Photoshop]

samroy92

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This is obviously ugly as sin but its the best Photoshop skills I can muster up. This demonstrates the solar area potential of the Cybertruck:

Tesla Cybertruck Cybertruck Solar Roof + Cover Potential [Photoshop] ct-solar


Does anyone have any rough measurements we can use to generate a usable surface area? A typical residential panel is 66"x41" and can produce around 400W at around 22.8% efficiency. Just ballparking I think at least 800W is achievable here. Thoughts?
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nitrohuck

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nice job, doesn't really look all that ugly, especially when you consider the potential utility of it

As someone who used to install residential and commercial solar, I'd say that's easily the footprint of two PV panels
 

Throwcomputer

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The space is inside a 8x12 foot rectangle so it's a bit more than two panels.

-Crissa
I know you had diagrams of the bed measurements but I can't find them right now. What was the estimated interior width of the bed?
 


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Haha. Love the stick figure and the spare tire mount.

That looks to be the prototype from 2019 which is the best definitive measurements we have up to this point, but I can't see the bed width having drastic difference aside from the plastic bed liner which looks like it's got some thiccness to it. :)

Thanks for the find!
 
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samroy92

samroy92

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Math

Bed cover surface area
1981mm x 1448mm =~ 2.8sq meters

Rear glass surface area (going to assume 1/4 the area)
990mm x 724mm =~ 0.71sq meters

Combined we get around 3.5sq meter of solar area on the CT. 200W per sq m puts us at, 200Wx3.5 = 700W!

700W is my prediction.
 

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I'm still just hoping for the ability to link up solar panels of similar wattage with some mc4/xt90 connectors or a second mppt controller. I'll splice if I have too, but I'm worried it's on a separate inverter then the regular DC one used for supercharging, and it'll have a "what comes with the truck" as the maximum input.

Just got to learn more about solar I guess. I'm hoping it's as simple as popping in a bigger inverter like I will with the air compressor.
 
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John K

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Does anyone have any rough measurements we can use to generate a usable surface area?
For length, take a measurement on any length segment and use our old friend cross multiply and divide.

(measured length of CT segment x 235.5) / measured length of the van = length in inches

Does not matter the unit used to measure the photo as long as the same unit is used on van and CT. Once bed length is determined, the width would be able to be determined on the aerial shot.

Tesla Cybertruck Cybertruck Solar Roof + Cover Potential [Photoshop] E8D62E85-0FC2-4E45-B7D5-E2D6EE4EB9C4
 


charliemagpie

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Elon said the truck could generate 15-20 miles of power per day. Lets call it 20.

We also think the CT will have 200KW battery pack

We also believe this 200kw pack will go 500 miles.

20 miles is 4% of its rated 500 mile range.


4% of 200KW = 8KW


8KW = 9600 watts ?

12 hrs of daylight

9600 / 12 = 800

Viola ! The solar panels confirmed ...800 Watts
 
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samroy92

samroy92

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Elon said the truck could generate 15-20 miles of power per day. Lets call it 20.

We also think the CT will have 200KW battery pack

We also believe this 200kw pack will go 500 miles.
I think we'll see a 150kwh battery pack go 500 miles :). About 300wh/mi is what I expect from the CT (real world driving probably 400wh/mi lets be honest). So around 3 miles per kwh, 12 miles per day is 4kwh. 5-6 usable hours of sunlight per day is 670-800W required in best conditions.
 

uff_da

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Elon said the truck could generate 15-20 miles of power per day. Lets call it 20.

We also think the CT will have 200KW battery pack

We also believe this 200kw pack will go 500 miles.

20 miles is 4% of its rated 500 mile range.


4% of 200KW = 8KW


8KW = 9600 watts ?

12 hrs of daylight

9600 / 12 = 800

Viola ! The solar panels confirmed ...800 Watts
Without doing a bunch of actual math 800 watts of panel area seems "in the ball park" based on the size of the truck. What doesn't seem realistic is "12 hours of daylight" at peak output. I only have a few hobby panels from a few years ago but they are fairly sensitive to their angle to the sun, so for most of the day you are going to be at a sub-optimal angle. You also have to keep them clean. I am on the fence about solar mattering on a vehicle. It all comes down to cost and durability. If they can design and mass produce an integrated solar option that has a payback over the duration of the vehicle then I guess that's a win, but for me its pretty low on the wish list and I certainly wouldn't want to give up other functionality for it.
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