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The Next Car You Buy Could Be Solar-Powered

 CC0 Public Domain/pixabay

IN BRIEF

This year's Prius Prime, and probably the next Tesla vehicle, will feature a more e cient solar panel from Panasonic.

For the Prius, the solar panel will increase the car's e ciency by up to 10 percent and add 2.2 miles of electric range.

POWERED BY THE SUN

Panasonic just unveiled an improved solar panel to power cars. The panel will be used for the rst solar roof model of the Toyota Prius, the Prius Prime,
which is slated for release this year. The new product, called HIT™ Photovoltaic Module for Automobile (https://electrek.co/2017/02/28/tesla-model-3-
solar-roof-panasonic/), will reportedly allow the Prius Prime to be powered by a 180 W solar module, which will recharge the car’s powertrain battery in
addition to its 12 V battery. Previous attempts by Toyota to create a solar roof model had managed to generate a mere 50 W — only enough to power
vehicle’s fans for air conditioning.
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Credit: Electrek

According to Toyota, the addition of the solar panel will increase the Prius’ e ciency by up to 10 percent. In ideal conditions, the battery will add 3.5 km
(2.2 mi) of electric range.

The solar out tted Prius is still unavailable in the US since the material used for the solar panels have yet to pass US crash tests. But the manufacturer is
already working on a solution.

SOLAR POWERED TESLAS

Not to be left behind, Elon Musk has announced that the Tesla Model 3 will also likely feature this solar roof option
(https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/794575003446480896). This isn’t surprising, given that Panasonic has been providing solar and battery cells
(https://electrek.co/2016/10/18/tesla-to-create-another-gigafactory-type-deal-with-panasonic-through-solarcity-bu alo-plant/) to the car
manufacturer.

As Tesla works toward improving their electric vehicles’ performance and reliability, the company’s researchers are also gunning for sophisticated and
advanced features such as Autopilot. Elon Musk stated (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/823727035088416768?lang=en) that full self-driving
capability features would noticeably depart from enhanced autopilot features by the end of July 2017.

The company is also poised to enter the ride-sharing market with its own eet of self-driving cars.

Tesla has shown its commitment to ushering in a new era in energy (https://futurism.com/ready-for-edit-7-ways-tesla-is-changing-everything/),
both on and o the road, thanks to their recent innovations and initiatives geared towards solar power and energy storage. Now that Toyota is joining in
the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, we can only hope that other car manufacturers will begin making the switch as well.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated. A previous version stated that Tesla hoped to achieve level 5 autonomy by the end of the year. This has
been corrected to clarify Musk’s statements about the noticeable appearance of full self-driving capabilities.

References: Electrek (https://electrek.co/2017/02/28/tesla-model-3-solar-roof-panasonic/), Electrek (https://electrek.co/2016/10/18/tesla-to-create-another-

gigafactory-type-deal-with-panasonic-through-solarcity-buffalo-plant/)

EDITOR

Christianna Reedy March 3, 2017

EDITOR

June Javelosa
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Denmark Just Ran Their Entire Country on 100% Wind

Energy
 Pixabay

IN BRIEF

Thanks in part to the installation of a new o shore wind turbine installation, Denmark was recently able to power the entire country for a day with wind energy
alone.

As many countries continue to incorporate renewable energy, successes like this show just how much is possible.

SCANDINAVIAN SUSTAINABILITY

Countries all over the world are making major strides in renewable energy. Many nations are investing in new clean energy infrastructure that is
allowing them to supply enough power to meet their energy needs by great percentages, if not entirely.

On February 22nd, Denmark generated enough energy with its wind turbines to power the entire country for the day. An especially windy day allowed
the turbines to generate 97 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy. 70 of those GWh came from onshore wind turbines and the remaining 27 GWh from
o shore installations. All of this power, generated from a single type of renewable energy, is enough to power 10 million average EU homes.

This boost in wind power generation is partly thanks to a new o shore wind turbine installation that was able to break the record
(https://futurism.com/3-a-wind-power-generating-titan-is-breaking-energy-records/) for the most energy generated by a single turbine in a 24-
hour period.

Photo credit: CGP Grey

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GLOBAL EFFORTS

Many European countries have been sharing similar accomplishments. Wind Europe spokesman Oliver Joy
(https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/denmark-ran-entirely-on-wind-energy-for-a-day-a7607991.html) said, “In 2016 we saw the
UK was powered without coal for 12 and a half hours, Germany went some days on renewable, and Portugal went four straight days on renewable.
It shows energy transition is underway in Europe and arguably further ahead than anywhere else in the world.”

Scotland has also been investing heavily in renewable energy with wind turbines (https://futurism.com/scotlands-wind-turbines-could-power-
almost-every-household-for-a-month/) that could power every household for an entire month. Last year, the country also launched the world’s rst
large-scale tidal power farm (https://futurism.com/say-hello-to-the-worlds- rst-large-scale-tidal-power-farm/) that has to potential to power
175,000 homes.

Costa Rica is one of the most impressive countries to look at in terms of renewable energy. It’s is able to run entirely on renewable energy
(https://futurism.com/76-days-no-fossil-fuels-costa-rica-has-been-running-on-renewables-for-over-two-months/) for months at a time. In fact,
in 2015 the country met 99 percent (https://futurism.com/costa-rica-ran-staggering-99-renewable-energy-2015/) of its total energy need from
renewable sources alone.

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Interested in saving money by converting your home to solar power? Get a free quote now (https://understandsolar.com/aff/futurism/?
lead_source=4484dde0ab050a77975a8b772fb4bf4a&tracking_code=p1). Futurism may receive a small commission.

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(https://futurism.com/author/patrickcaughill/) Patrick Caughill March 3, 2017

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