Electric vehicle with photovoltaic roof assembly
First Claim
1. An electric vehicle of the type including a vehicle body carrying a motor, a battery and a main PV assembly, the main PV assembly coupled to the battery for charging the battery, the improvement comprising:
- a display unit mounted to the body, the display unit electrically isolated from the battery and the main PV assembly; and
a secondary PV assembly mounted to the body and electrically connected to the display unit;
the display unit constructed to provide an indication proportional to the intensity of solar irradiation on the secondary PV assembly.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A PV roof assembly (6) includes a roof (12) mountable to an electric vehicle (4), and a PV assembly (10) at the upper part of the roof. The PV assembly may be mounted to a separate roof surface (34) or the PV assembly may itself constitute all or part of the roof. The vehicle may include a secondary PV assembly (96) coupled to a display unit (92) to provide an independent indication of the intensity of solar irradiation. The roof may have mounting element recesses (68) to accommodate mounting elements (70) of the PV assembly, the mounting elements configured so as not to shade the PV panel (14). The roof may also be configured to accommodate a global positioning device (80). The roof preferably includes a peripheral gutter (88). The roof body preferably includes hand-hold recesses (90) housing hand-hold elements (42) at positions to provide a horizontal setback (92) from the lateral sides (93) of the roof body.
21 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An electric vehicle of the type including a vehicle body carrying a motor, a battery and a main PV assembly, the main PV assembly coupled to the battery for charging the battery, the improvement comprising:
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a display unit mounted to the body, the display unit electrically isolated from the battery and the main PV assembly; and
a secondary PV assembly mounted to the body and electrically connected to the display unit;
the display unit constructed to provide an indication proportional to the intensity of solar irradiation on the secondary PV assembly. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. An electric vehicle photovoltaic (PV) roof assembly comprising:
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a vehicle roof comprising an upper surface having a plurality of assembly mounting element recesses;
a PV assembly;
PV assembly mounting elements securing the PV assembly to the upper surface of the roof at the mounting element recesses; and
said mounting elements configured so that the mounting elements do not shade the PV assembly. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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6. An electric vehicle photovoltaic (PV) roof assembly comprising:
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a vehicle roof comprising an upper surface having first and second surface portions;
a PV assembly mounted to the first surface portion;
a global positioning device mounted to the second surface portion. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An electric vehicle photovoltaic (PV) roof comprising:
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a vehicle roof body comprising a generally flat PV assembly-supporting upper surface, a peripheral edge circumscribing the upper surface, and a peripheral gutter formed between the upper surface and the peripheral edge;
the gutter having a minimum chosen depth below the upper surface. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. An electric vehicle roof comprising:
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a roof body comprising front and rear edges and lateral side edges;
hand-hold recesses formed into the lateral sides at chosen position; and
hand-hold elements mounted within said hand-hold recesses at positions to provide a minimum horizontal setback between the hand-hold elements and the lateral sides. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification