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Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz
Wow, I don't know where to start, but using an innefficeint source of power to produce fuel to be used in a more efficient engine is still less efficient than just using the electrical energy in the first place.
If you don't beleive me consider this.
assuming the energy cells are say 80% efficient and the engine you speak of is 90% efficient.
using just the energy cell and say 1000W of power from the sun you get
1000 * 0.8 = 800 W (pretty good)
now using your engine as well (and assuming the hydrogen production process is 100% efficeint wich we all know it is)
1000 * 0.8 * 0.9 = 720 W
720 < 800 Efficinecies are always less than 1 Lanny, and if I have to expalin to you what happens when you keep multiplying numbers less than 1 then this debate is pointless to begin with.
Okay, fine and to produce this hydrogen you need an energy source in the car. So you're storing energy in the car in some fashion and we have another example of my point above.
And it is a FACT that the ammount of energy that went into making that hydrogen (from the electricity) was greater than the ammount of energy released when the hydrogen burned. For easy reference, see my first point.
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Interesting stuff, but I think you may be missing my point. From what I have seen Electric cars just aren't efficient by todays standards. They don't have the HP or sustained power or ability to go the distance as examples. So the goal is to get a combustable fuel that will work in the combustion engine, hence hydrogen. So you use the free energy from the sun to generate the fuel required to work in the combustion engine, which will work by today's standards. Is that more clear? The photocell system is used to seperate the fuel for the combunstion engine, which is used to power the engine and move the vehicle. As for deminishing efficiency, who cares? The power is from the sun and from water. Its all about using the right fuel to do the right thing. Until they find a way to build electric cars that can do what the combustion engine can, a hybrid approach like this is probably the best solution, don't you think? If you can add a $1000 solar cell, a $1000 converter, a $1000 storage system, and a $1000 engine modification, and be able to run your car with your garden hose, who isn't going to be all over that and not really caring about the cost? Water is renewable, and the sun is going to be around for a few more billion years.