Pt. 1 "The SolarTaxi" Interview with Louis Palmer

[geiler1980]

i saw this men with his solartaxi today in the school !!! He was in Steckborn, Switzerland.

[TroyOi]

...able to complete this trip (at least, not on the ambitious itinerary he set). Therefore, he must PLUG THE CAR IN EVERY NIGHT!!!

Plugging the car in is not such a terrible thing, but he really should be more aboveboard about the whole thing. People need to understand that a car consumes too much energy to get it all from it's own set of solar panels. Unless, of course, you can accept taking short trips, interrupted by long, stationary recharging periods.

[TroyOi]

So it all depends on your lifestyle. If you add the idea of having a house covered in SP which charge up a battery which can then charge the car when you come home, & you just need to make short trips, the idea of "independence from the grid" is within reach. But if you want to hit the open road, be prepared for a lot of camping out during daylight hours.

One way or the other - infrastructure-dependent or infrastructure-free - u have to accept certain limitations along with the benefits.

[cdltpx]

This car looks safer than a motorcycle and far safer than a bicycle. That is a great idea and a marvelous Journey and accomplishment. Governments will not support a car like this too much money is made from ICE cars their fuel provide taxes they break so much that is another job and you have to replace them all the time more jobs the car is too good much like the dome home it is too goo it puts too many people out of work b/c it uses 1/3 the energy and can survive a tornado,wildfire,lowmaintence

[cdltpx]

So screw the government build it yourself a car that can go 200 miles I don't know about you but I drive 40 miles a day to work and usually take a trip of 100 miles maybe bimonthly. If I had a car like this I could work a job that didn't force me to work 80 hour weeks all I want to do is 40. It might be somewhat slower but so what it is faster than a bike or a horse.

[TroyOi]

I don't think anyone is seriously proposing a solar-powered car for general use. I think Palmer's car is more intended just to raise all our consciousness about solar.

Much more practical is the concept of the electric car, plus the generation of more and more of that electricity from (stationary) solar panels.

BTW, check out Shai Agassi's "Better Place" project for a great new approach to electric cars, which is gaining a lot of traction (no pun intended).

[cdltpx]

I want a car that needs no infrastructure to supply it with propulsion other than the power of the sun only with no man standing in the way of my progression down the road. I can sleep anywhere I can tie a hammock or pitch a tent light portable is not a bad way to be.

[TroyOi]

That sounds great to me too, but for the foreseeable future, that will only happen if you can accept the limitations of this technology.

I tried very hard to find some data regarding the rate of energy input (from the solar panels) vs. output (by the car). There is nothing on the SolarTaxi website, and depite many SolarTaxi videos on YT, I could find nothing here either. FINALLY, in Part 2 of this interview, Palmer makes an admission: He cannot get enough energy from the solar panels to be...

[cdltpx]

What he has done is made the electric car closer to the average range of todays drivers ability. Sure there are those out there that can drive from La to Denver like it is a day trip but the reality is most people can only do about an 8 hour trip and they are looking for a motel. I have personally driven from LACA to Gulfport Ms in 30 hours including a nap driving a Bob tail tractor. That requires no stops. Folks with family must stop b/c not all have the same blatters.

[TroyOi]

Again, the problem is that the tech specs on this car are hard to come by. Do you have any? I noticed you wrote the car uses 1/3 the energy of a normal car - did you see that written somewhere?

Also, it would help to know the range of the car on a full charge. And how long does it take to fully charge the batteries from the solar panels?

Keep in mind, btw, that the car has to be charged during daylight hours. (So don't expect to stop at a motel for the night & wake up to a re-charged car.)

[TroyOi]

Also, are you gonna drag along a trailer full of SP's? (Remember, even with that trailer, Palmer had to rely on the grid.)

Sorry, I don't mean to keep throwing a wet towel on your vision. I assure you I'm at least as enthusiastic about independence from the major energy producers as you are. And I'm not as pessimistic about governments resisting revolutionary technologies just b/c they challenge the old order. I think the momentum is building for great things to happen.

[cdltpx]

When he is home in Switzerland he plugs into a grid tied home and he doesn't use the sp on the car he uses just the car the sp are for those longer than average trips he plugs in every night. He is carbon neutral since he has all those sp on his home grid tied so he is being true to the earth. My current needs are a car that can go 100 miles no charge 62 top speed for 30 min. We will see families with 2 cars one family ice another commuter electric the comm car will outlast the family 10/1.

[TroyOi]

Yeah, I'm aware of his carbon-neutral thing. In general, it works when the electric company allows for consumers to send energy back to the grid. Some do, some don't, but I'm sure it'll catch on.

Hey, if it works for you, that's great. Not so sure about the 10/1 ratio if you consider current battery cost and lifetime, but I'm sure amazing advances are in store for battery costs and technology, as well as photovoltaics.

I hope this will be our country's new "moon shot". We're overdue for one.

[TroyOi]

About the dome home - Are you talking about Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome? Are you into those, too? Got one?

[cdltpx]

What is your home made of?

[TroyOi]

Don't have one at the moment - my ex got it. Just living in an apartment now.

Why? I was just curious about whether you were something of a student of Buckminster Fuller, and his inventions, philosophy, etc. I used to be fascinated by him when I was in school.

[cdltpx]

ONEI have been to Italy TX and to the AI domes place in Fl. Just to see first hand what these places looked like. The one I liked for residential use was the AI domes. MDI can make a dome that could fit 3 superdomes in them. I intend to pay off this land then I will do the dome. Still a toss up on which to build b/c now MDI rents the tools needed to build one greatly reducing the cost to DIY. I might build an eco dome and straw bale the outside then stucco. I plan to use fiber optic lighting.

[cdltpx]

TWO SP Integrate a solar oven among other things I want a home that can withstand the severe weather of a tornado and is energy efficient low maintence and is innexpensive only domes fit that bill. The AI domes can at least tell you what they would cost b/c they sell a kit home they are strong and very well insulated. I learned about these when I was in electronics school.