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(Created page with "A gas station roof is potentially a good place to put solar panels. frame ==Viability== In peak sunlight, how long would it take to provide a full charge: {{calc |ev.battery / (sunlight_peak solar_panel.efficiency gas_station_roof.area) |minutes }} <small>Caveats:</small> {{p|- Might take longer due to some minor energy losses. Should <code>li_ion.charge_discharge_efficiency</code> be factored in?<br />- The more solar/challang...")
 
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[[File:GasStationRooftopSolar1.jpg|thumb]]
A gas station roof is potentially a good place to put [[solar]] panels.
A gas station roof is potentially a good place to put [[solar]] panels.
[[File:GasStationRooftopSolar1.png|frame]]


==Viability==
==Viability==
In peak sunlight, how long would it take to provide a full charge:
In peak sunlight, how long might it take to charge one vehicle from 0% to 100%:
{{dp
|<nowiki>ev.battery</nowiki>
|<nowiki>65.2 kWh</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Energy capacity of the average electric vehicle battery</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Useable battery capacity of full electric vehicles</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
https://ev-database.org/cheatsheet/useable-battery-capacity-electric-car</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
</nowiki>
}}
{{dp
|<nowiki>sunlight_peak</nowiki>
|<nowiki>1000 watts / m^2</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Typical amount of energy in peak daylight</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Solar irradiance, measured at ground level, no clouds, at the peak of the day. Standard: AM 1.5 Spectrum, global (IEC 904-3)</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
https://www.newport.com/t/introduction-to-solar-radiation</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
http://www.ftexploring.com/solar-energy/insolation.htm</nowiki>
}}
{{dp
|<nowiki>solar_panel.efficiency</nowiki>
|<nowiki>17%</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Efficiency of an average solar panel</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Some solar panels are more efficient than this, but they tend to be expensive and contain more rare metals.</nowiki>
}}
{{dp
|<nowiki>gas_station_roof.area</nowiki>
|<nowiki>225 m^2</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Size of a typical gas station canopy</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Gas Station Roof Design - SAFS</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
https://www.safsteelstructure.com/gas-station-roof-design/</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
Using the example of the "Petro Sun" canopy top which is 15m by 15m</nowiki>
}}
{{dp
|<nowiki>li_ion.charge_discharge_efficiency</nowiki>
|<nowiki>85%</nowiki>
|<nowiki>When you charge a lithium-ion battery, this much of the energy can be recovered. The rest is lost as heat.</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Range: 80 to 90 %</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
from wikipedia; haven't found original source yet</nowiki>
}}
{{calc
{{calc
|ev.battery / (sunlight_peak solar_panel.efficiency gas_station_roof.area)
|ev.battery / (sunlight_peak solar_panel.efficiency gas_station_roof.area)
|minutes
|minutes
}}
}}
<small>Caveats:</small> {{p|- Might take longer due to some minor energy losses. Should <code>li_ion.charge_discharge_efficiency</code> be factored in?<br />- The more [[solar/challange 1|viable solar panels]] might be less efficient, which would also slow the charging. But the panels would be cheaper, so it might still make economic sense.<br />- Is a 0%-to-100% charge even a common customer use-case? Maybe solar gas station rooftops could be mostly just for top-ups, which would be fine if they were commonplace.}}
<small>Caveats:</small> {{p|- Would take longer if multiple vehicles are plugged in.<br />- Would take less time if the gas station canopy is bigger.<br />- Might take longer due to some minor energy losses. Should <code>li_ion.charge_discharge_efficiency</code> be factored in or not?<br />- The more [[solar/challenge 1|scaleable solar panels]] might be less efficient, which would also slow the charging. But the panels would be cheaper, so it might still make economic sense.<br />- Is a 0%-to-100% charge even a common customer use-case? Maybe solar gas station rooftops could be mostly just for top-ups, which would be fine if they were commonplace.<br />- Battery/charger capabilities might still limit charge speed in some cases.}}


<!-- TODO: energy storage: daytime-only stations could still benefit from having ''some'', but not as much as 24-hour stations. -->
<!-- TODO: energy storage: daytime-only stations could still benefit from having ''some'', but not as much as 24-hour stations. -->
<!-- TODO: economic viability -->
<!-- TODO: economic viability -->
If all vehicles were electric, and all gas stations were repurposed with solar panels to the roof, would that alone be enough to charge all the vehicles? Short answer: No. Not even close:
{{dp
|<nowiki>usa.gas_stations</nowiki>
|<nowiki>145000</nowiki>
|<nowiki>How many fuelling stations are in the USA</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Top Numbers Driving America's Gasoline Demand</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/blog/2022/05/26/top-numbers-driving-americas-gasoline-demand</nowiki>
}}
{{dp
|<nowiki>usa.registered_vehicles</nowiki>
|<nowiki>275.9 million</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Number of registered vehicles in the USA</nowiki>
|<nowiki>Top Numbers Driving America's Gasoline Demand</nowiki><br /><nowiki>
https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/blog/2022/05/26/top-numbers-driving-americas-gasoline-demand</nowiki>
}}
{{dp
|vehicle
|1
||placeholder
}}
{{calc
|usa.gas_stations / usa.registered_vehicles
|minutes per week per vehicle
}}
<small>Note: {{x|The USA is used in this calculation, but the answer probably wouldn't be ''much'' different in other countries.}} {{x|The calculation illustrates how little time each vehicle would get for charging. Nowhere near enough, when you consider the earlier calculation.}}</small>
We'd have to build a lot of new [[solar charging stations]] (which might still ''look like'' gas station roofs). Existing suburban houses could ''also'' provide enough [[rooftop solar]] for all the vehicles, but people's cars aren't generally parked at home during the day. Then again, that's not a major problem. Suburban homes could dump their excess energy into the power grid which could charge vehicles elsewhere in the city during the day.


==Design challanges==
==Design challanges==
* Gasoline pumps are high traffic areas, so you wouldn't want a car to charge right in front of them. You could probably make room for a charging station 10 to 20 meters away. Some extra wires would be necessary. They could either go above ground (beware of interfering with tall trucks) or below ground (probably a lot of initial cost).
* Gasoline pumps are high traffic areas, so you wouldn't want a car to charge right in front of them. You could probably make room for a charging station 10 to 20 meters away. Some extra wires would be necessary. They could either go above ground (beware of interfering with tall trucks) or below ground (probably a high initial cost).
* Gas station roofs also contain anti-fire systems designed to put out a gasoline fire in the rare case it happens. The solar wiring has to not interfere with that. This makes the engineering a bit more complex, but still manageable.
* Gas station roofs also contain anti-fire systems designed to put out a gasoline fire in the rare case it happens. The solar wiring has to not interfere with that. This makes the engineering a bit more complex, but still manageable.


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