Gosun solar ev cover

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ME_Andy

Joined
Jun 10, 2017
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123
Location
Texas
I have one of these on preorder. It charges up to 30 miles per day. With a commute of 200 miles per week, that'll cover the majority of my needs, even if it's only 15 miles per day. I like the integrated LiFePO4 battery and the outlets. I'm expecting to plug in only about twice a month.

https://gosun.co/pages/ev-solar-charger

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What happens when a slight breeze rolls through? What about the paint? Vandals? Do you have to park facing a certain direction?

$3k for 30 miles per day... Why not just use your 110v charger at night?
 
I do use my garage charger right now. $3k is not a ton of money from my perspective and I like the idea. Agree that paint scratching might be an issue. Might have to put some pads or something on the back side, if they haven't thought of that.
 
RooflessVW said:
What happens when a slight breeze rolls through? What about the paint? Vandals? Do you have to park facing a certain direction?

$3k for 30 miles per day... Why not just use your 110v charger at night?
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Exactly! I could see that scratching the hell out of the car in breezes, or putting it on the car or removing it from the car, especially if the car is even slightly dirty. Thieves? If they're brazen enough to rob catalytic converters from cars parked in driveways, my SIL lost two in the past two years, I could see that thing vanishing. Seems like a lot of money and potential hassle for 30 miles a day.
 
ME_Andy said:
I have one of these on preorder. It charges up to 30 miles per day. With a commute of 200 miles per week, that'll cover the majority of my needs, even if it's only 15 miles per day. I like the integrated LiFePO4 battery and the outlets. I'm expecting to plug in only about twice a month.

https://gosun.co/pages/ev-solar-charger

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Any customer reviews or complaints about it? What's the lifespan users are getting out of it. Just curious.
 
It's a brand new product, no reviews yet.

For vandals, I just won't unfold it if I'm parked somewhere sketchy. Work and home are pretty safe
 
ME_Andy said:
I have one of these on preorder. It charges up to 30 miles per day. With a commute of 200 miles per week, that'll cover the majority of my needs, even if it's only 15 miles per day. I like the integrated LiFePO4 battery and the outlets. I'm expecting to plug in only about twice a month.

https://gosun.co/pages/ev-solar-charger

View attachment 244702
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So it's a 1.2kW charger, which pencils out at $2,500/kW.

According to the EIA, you pay $0.1451/kWh.

Solar irradiance in Texas is pretty good, but this cover will have FAR from ideal angles, so let's say it has a 16% capacity factor (and that's probably being generous). This means it'll generate ~1,680kWh/year. That would cost you $243.77 if you were to buy that electricity from your utility at $0.1451/kWh, though I would assume you have TOU pricing and overnight rates are lower?

So it will take you roughly 12 and a half years to break even on the capital cost of buying this thing with the above assumptions. Longer if its output is lower than what I calculated, longer if you have low overnight charging prices.
 
OVERKILL said:
So it's a 1.2kW charger, which pencils out at $2,500/kW.

According to the EIA, you pay $0.1451/kWh.

Solar irradiance in Texas is pretty good, but this cover will have FAR from ideal angles, so let's say it has a 16% capacity factor (and that's probably being generous). This means it'll generate ~1,680kWh/year. That would cost you $243.77 if you were to buy that electricity from your utility at $0.1451/kWh, though I would assume you have TOU pricing and overnight rates are lower?

So it will take you roughly 12 and a half years to break even on the capital cost of buying this thing with the above assumptions. Longer if its output is lower than what I calculated, longer if you have low overnight charging prices.
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Don’t forget the additional weight and aero drag this thing has. I’m betting 20 years minimum and I bet it breaks in 10.
 
$3000 buys a lotta gas... If you don't drive much that $3K would be spent over a looooong time.
I mostly drive during the day; I imagine it is hard to drive with those on. Most charging is done at night.
 
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Torrid said:
Do you have anything but bitter pessimistic comments? What do you have to offer to the conversation? It's definitely useful! 🙄
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I mean, he has a point... this thing is a cool idea that we've all thought about (using solar to charge the car while parked during the day) but that this implementation is just not practical for real world usage, and at that price point, it's totally absurd.
 
dogememe said:
I mean, he has a point... this thing is a cool idea that we've all thought about (using solar to charge the car while parked during the day) but that this implementation is just not practical for real world usage, and at that price point, it's totally absurd.
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Anybody who has ever aimed a solar panel knows that even under the best of circumstances with your panel aimed as close to perfection as you can get you’re lucky to get 70% of your panels capacity. This thing has 3/8 or 5/8 aimed away from the general direction of the sun no matter what.
https://solare.bike/2020/08/13/why-is-my-100-watt-solar-panel-only-giving-me-75-watts/
 
Vercingetorix said:
Anybody who has ever aimed a solar panel knows that even under the best of circumstances with your panel aimed as close to perfection as you can get you’re lucky to get 70% of your panels capacity. This thing has 3/8 or 5/8 aimed away from the general direction of the sun no matter what.
https://solare.bike/2020/08/13/why-is-my-100-watt-solar-panel-only-giving-me-75-watts/
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Yep, add weather to the situation and it gets markedly worse. Average CF of solar in December/January in Ontario can be below 4%.
 
Pretty cool idea if you park your car mostly outside and you have expensive electricity (like my 40c/kwh here) in a "good neighborhood".

The air drag is real, but if you drive that much to be a problem you probably won't get much value out of these solar on vehicle charging anyways. In those situation I would either charge at work, at home, or supercharge on the go.
 
PandaBear said:
Pretty cool idea if you park your car mostly outside and you have expensive electricity (like my 40c/kwh here) in a "good neighborhood".

The air drag is real, but if you drive that much to be a problem you probably won't get much value out of these solar on vehicle charging anyways. In those situation I would either charge at work, at home, or supercharge on the go.
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I mean, this would be perfect for me. Our power is $0.50/kwh or so. I'd put it on the Bolt. It either sits outside in my driveway in the sun or in the parking lot at work in the sun.

BUT not at that price. Maybe if it was $800 it would be worth it.
 
You might want to double check. At 50¢/kWh, payback is ~4 years. Lot better than the stock market.
 
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