7 replies to this topic

[linkadrip]

Ok here is my idea for an invention that i have had in my head for many years but is still not possible since the technology doesn't exist for it yet. I'm kinda glad that no one has thought of it yet or maybe they have but there stuck with the same thing the technology doesn't exist yet to make it a practical concept.
My idea is Solar powered Air conditioning in a Vehicle any vehicle the smaller the vehicle the harder it would be to apply the idea. The idea is to have a Solar powered system that runs the AC unit without the aid of anything else. you park the car in the hot summer sun and the AC unit in the car runs and keeps the car cool at whatever temp you have the unit set too. without the aid of anything but the suns radiant heat.

I have more to tell about my idea but lets just let this fair for now and i will post more about it if there seems to be an interest in the idea.

[rpgsearcherz]

I'm going to have to say that I never really thought of that idea. I did think of a nice car idea though, that would work great if mixed with that. If you want to check out my idea, here is the link: http://www.trap17.com/forums/Cool-Idea-Sou...rgy-t63321.html

[Mordent]

Possible in theory, and certainly not a bad little idea, but I reckon we'd need to refine the efficiency of solar cells. That, or make them cheap enough to make worthwhile. Perhaps if you expand on the idea slightly, such as using the solar cells more effectively by having a means of using them to power only what they need to power? As an example, let's say it's ridiculously sunny, but not all that warm. Do you really want air conditioning blasting away?

Being at uni I see a lot of other different branches of engineering around, and interestingly systems engineers seem to be playing a pretty important role these days. Basically they're the ones who pull people together, more of a managerial role than anything, and one of the titbits of information I've gleaned from being around them is that one of the key factors in designing a new product is making sure that it's worthwhile monetarily. These solar-powered air conditioning units could only be used in areas with a lot of sun (which I suppose doesn't really matter, as that's where you'll want them, right? ), but why not simply install a regular air-con unit that "ticks over"? You could potentially combine the idea, by having the car battery (which is what will be powering the air conditioning) charge up slowly when in sunlight. In the short term this may seem like a poor idea, as the amount of energy that you'd generate would be minimal, but as the technology is refined we can get ever increasing amounts of energy out of that big, burning ball of gas in the sky.

Personally, I think using alternative fuels or energy sources for mundane applications such as this is, in the short term, an expensive bit of research. We simply haven't got the technology to make it worthwhile yet, so more money has to be poured in to working out how to miniaturise things, or make them more efficient etc. Once we cross over a certain point, though, we'll be able to hopefully sustain things such as this indefinitely, meaning our cars will always be nice and cool in summer without us having to worry about it.

Edited by Mordent, 16 December 2008 - 06:40 AM.

[Echo_of_thunder]

very nice idea, could be done with a solor pannel running straight to the AC, via a couple of batteries in the trunk. If I was you, I would look around the net. see if you can find the right person or persons to take this idea and work with it. Just be smart though and Patten it 1st.

[encryptedwrath]

It could easily be implemented in more tropic countries like Spain , The Phillipines , etc. But for other countries such as the UK and some of the US sun isn't always consant , so that could raise a problem. Unless you included some sort of hybrid feature where you can choose whether or not to use the solar panels. Then again , if the weather wasn't so great you wouldn't need air con xP

[csp4.0]

Ahh... But I remember that this HAS been brought up before...

In a discussion (Not sure if it is on Trap17) that said something like, "The sun is always there so why don't we strap solar panels to anything that uses electricity?"

Well, if solar panels were cheap, then sure why not...

BUT... Solar panels are not cheap, and even though they are expensive, they have very low efficiency, like only 8% or so of the sun's energy hitting the solar panel are being converted to electricity...

THE most expensive solar panels can convert about 16%-18%, which isn't much at all... But I can see where this is going...

Scientists are trying to develop a new kind of solar panel which can reach 40% maybe even 60% efficiency, but that isn't just around the corner... When that technology has been developed, we wouldn't even need solar power to power our cars, water fuel cells, hydrogen fuel cells, may be powering our cars by then...

The main reason your idea isn't being implemented is because: solar panels will not work as well as you say so... The pollution created by the production of the solar panels may even exceed that of the cars' air conditioners...

[y4nzi]

Interesting idea, although solar technology isn't really developed enough to implement it yet. Solar panels aren't efficient or cheap enough but hopefully sometime in the future.
Air conditioning would be a good start I think because on days where the sun shines brightest is when you need airconditioning the most.

[Ousk]

Really good idea, cause if your hot the sun is up and u need the ac, if it's raining you don't need the ac so no need for sun to get power. But why is this not done yet, because it's a car and a car is meant by the big guys that run these place to run and consume petrol. And given that the ac consumes, when on, more petrol it's all good