Producing extra solar electricity annually while also charging three electric vehicles = priceless! And super green! That’s what we’re doing...
With gas prices rising to an average of nearly $5 per gallon in the United States, a lot of people are complaining.
Six months ago, the HOA community that I live in, Highline Crossing Cohousing Community in Littleton, Colo. went online with 19.6 worth of solar on our so-called Common House and on some of our shared garages here. I worked with other residents for 18 months to persuade residents to go solar, not an easy task in a community of 40 residents where 90% of the households have to vote in favor of a measure in order for it to pass. Yes, that is the "cohousing" ethic/approach -- cohousing is a form of living that is deliberately extra community-based and community-focuses.
Few things are as satisfying as knowing that your own, local rooftop solar system is actively, and 100% filling up the battery of electric vehicle!
This 15-minute video from the YouTube channel Electric Future takes a close look at the questions of where we are at in terms of integrating solar cells into cars and whether it is worth it to integrate solar technology into several thousand pound vehicles.
Putting solar cells onto a car and/or using portable solar units to charge an EV are apparently a flash hot button issue for many electric vehicle advocates, some (many?) of whom patronizingly, in my view, immediately dismiss such efforts as “useless”.