It probably won’t happen even if you lived near the equator and had year round perfect weather. There is about 1000W/m2 to work with as a theoretical limit, and it’s just not enough to power a car with the panels on its own roof. Not unless you keep the motor power to e-bike levels, but with way worse weight and aerodynamic cross section.
At best, it can be a supplementary power source. It needs to be low weight and low cost for even that to be worthwhile.
It probably won’t happen even if you lived near the equator and had year round perfect weather. There is about 1000W/m2 to work with as a theoretical limit, and it’s just not enough to power a car with the panels on its own roof. Not unless you keep the motor power to e-bike levels, but with way worse weight and aerodynamic cross section.
At best, it can be a supplementary power source. It needs to be low weight and low cost for even that to be worthwhile.