CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

5 This application claims priority from the provisional application filed in the convention country of USA of Application Number 61/849,659 filed on 31January 2013.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the vehicle with multi-layered roof and 10 .with a solar array.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The problem the present invention was created to solve is the range limitation of electric vehicles. As many corporate automobile engineers and an army of independent inventors and thinkers have realized, increasing the range of 15 an electric car with a solar array could give electric cars the range they need to compete on an equal footing with gas driven cars. But no one has yet sold a solar car, truck or van commercially. I believe that this is because the following somewhat contradictory objectives must also be met to make a solar car as attractive to potential buyers as another type of vehicle:

20 A. The total amount of electricity created by the solar array must be enough that it can provide most of the energy which an average driver uses. In general, this requires a solar array with a much larger average footprint than the footprint of the vehicle the solar panels are mounted on. However, the dimensions of the deployed solar array must not be so large that it goes beyond the area which is normally allotted for one cars usage.

B. The solar array must not cause the vehicle to become unstable, to do a wheelie, to tip over or to take off like an airplane This requires that the solar cells that extend beyond the perimeter of the vehicle when it is being driven be rriiriimized.

C. The vehicle must be as intrinsically safe as a standard car, truck, bus or van of a similar type. This includes such factors as minimizing glare, making it possible to turn the vehicle easily and for the driver to see outside

D. The solar array must not make it difficult for the driver and passengers to enter or leave the vehicle and it must not make it easy for solar cells to be vandalized or hit by stray dirt. The solar array must also not be positioned in such a way that passersby or others could easily get hurt or damage it by running into it. Additionally, the solar array must not interfere with the driver's vision or make passengers feel claustrophobic by not allowing them to see out of the vehicle

E. Over the lifetime of a typical car, truck, bus or van, the cost of the solar array and any mechanisms needed to support it must not be so expensive that they are significantly greater than the fuel savings created by switching to solar electricity from gasoline. Furthermore, the systems used must be reliableF. The solar array must be high enough when it is producingelectricity that it will not be shaded by people, nearby vehicles and other objects of similar or lesser heights. It also must be designed in such a way that one part of the solar array does not shade another part for more than a small minority of the day. G. The solar array must not interfere with the vehicles ability to perform as a standard car, minivan or similar vehicle in terms of parking, handling passenger comfort and other practical issues.

H. It must be possible to align or orient the solar array towards the sun for maximal electricity output. [0003] While point A leads one to design a very large solar array, a very large array mounted high enough to allow for egress and to avoid other problems cited above would create stability problems while driving and interfere with fulfilling point B. But solar panels that extended beyond the front area of vehicle perimeter and were mounted much lower would create egress problems, glare on the driver, be easily shaded by nearby objects including the roof and roof array of the vehicle and be subject to vandalism. Just as driving and turning a large truck or bus is harder than driving a small car, any vehicle would be more difficult to drive if it had an array that extended significantly beyond its outside perimeter.

[0004] The key to understanding how to achieve the somewhat contradictory objectives A - H listed above is to have an array whose constituent parts (i.e. solar panels) do not extend significantly beyond the vehicles perimeter when it is being driven - but these solar panels can be repositioned when the vehicle is parked so that the total footprint of the solar array covers an area much larger than the vehicle. Since people typically park a vehicle far more than they drive it, an expandable solar array could increase the range of an electric car enough to fulfill an average driver's needs. [0005] In the present invention, I use the word "undeployed" to describe the solar array when it's individual solar panels are stacked up on top of the carefully designed vehicle roof without going beyond its perimeter. When the vehicle is parked, however, the solar array can be expanded to cover an area approximately equal to the size of a standard parking space. This repositioned solar array which covers a footprint far larger than the vehicle itself is called expanded. And once each of the solar panels which make up the array are moved to the same level after the solar array is expanded, I call the solar array "deployed."

[0006] With this in mind, let us examine the prior art to see what people have thought of in the past: PRIOR ART

[0007] The solar cars that win off-road races are barely big enough for the driver to get inside. They typically have fixed sixed solar arrays that are more than four times as large as the small vehicle cabin. Since few people will buy and use a vehicle that can fit no passengers or cargo, putting a fixed size solar array that is four or more times as large as a vehicle on a more typically sized vehicle would make it too large to be driven on regular roads without hitting other vehicles. To avoid aerodynamic problems, the solar racing cars typically place their arrays below the height of a normal sized person. Someone using such a vehicle once in a while for racing purposes might not mind ducking down to enter their vehicle. But no regular consumer would be willing to put up with the inconvenience of ducking down every time they left or entered their vehicle. However, placing a huge overhanging array high enough to allow the driver or passengers to enter without ducking is dangerous. It might cause the vehicle to take off like an airplane. In fact, a solar test vehicle I built with a huge and high overhanging array flipped over due to a momentary wind gust while I was transporting it in an open truck at twenty miles per hour. Partly for this reason, I ended up abandoning an earlier patent application of mine (Freeman 20100193261) because I myself also almost flipped over due to a momentary wind gust when riding such a vehicle. Even if a vehicle with a truly large overhanging solar array more than six feet above the ground doesn't flip over or take off like an airplane, this type of solar vehicle can become dangerous to drive in windy weather. From my own experience, I can tell you that driving a solar vehicle with an overhanging solar array that is more than thirty percent larger than the vehicle creates a much worse version of the problems one encounters when driving an RV in very windy weather. What actually happens is that the vehicle is pushed around by windy weather so badly that safety and vehicle control are compromised. [0008] To avoid the problems of an overhanging array, many previous patents, patent applications and users have involved vehicles with solar panels that do not extend beyond the vehicle perimeter. I will use Ward's US patent #8120 308 BC to illustrate this point. While this patent has a variety of useful and interesting ideas, it specifically talks about solar panels "being mounted on the vehicle, or provided inside the vehicle beneath a mirror. Examples of surface where a solar panel can be provided include a roof, trunk, moon roof and a pick up truck bed cover. Other modular panels include solar panels provided on sunshades, roof rail attachments or roof top clamps on carriers." Like most other uses, patents and patent applications, it is clear that this invention only contemplates using a solar array of a fixed size with panels mounted on the available vehicle surface area. But as I mentioned in my "background" section, the limited area available on a vehicle makes a solar array limited in size to the roof, hood and other normal areas unable to supply nearly enough electricity to provide most or all of the power required by a typical driver. It is well known, for instance, that Toyota has experimented with putting solar panels on some of its vehicles with electric motors. This auto behemoth found that the extra range created does not justify the complexity and problems associated with adding a solar component to help fuel the main battery system. Therefore, Toyota only currendy sells a vehicle with the very small roof solar panel powering only part of the cooling system and not connected to the main battery system of the drive system.

[0009] In one of my earlier abandoned applications, (Freeman 20090288890 ) I tried to use the idea of repositioning solar panels without actually expanding the size of the solar array. Instead of getting the best of both worlds, I ended up creating something which is deficient on both ends. Firsdy, when a vehicle built in accordance with that invention is driven it will still not fully fulfill the objectives listed in the background section partly because some solar panels will be positioned outside the perimeter of the vehicle. But in my attempt to rninimize the area of the array which was positioned beyond the outside perimeter of the vehicle, I ended up making the expanded solar array smaller than required to fully power a vehicle with a motor as large as most electric vehicles on the road today. From my own attempts and from consideration of a few others who have thought along those lines, I think I can generally say that this halfway approach is not viable. One needs to start with an array that does not hang a significant distance beyond the vehicle perimeter when driving and expand its total footprint by a factor of at least two to have any chance of fulfilling the key first objective of enough solar electricity production without running afoul of the other objectives listed.

[0010] With this in mind, the same inventor (Ward in C2008/0100258) I mentioned before is one of the few who does suggest the possibility of extending a solar panel in a straight line parallel with one of the four sides of the vehicle. If one looks carefully at his claims, specifications and drawings, he is not even suggesting the expansion of the total area of the solar array to a footprint larger than the vehicle. Furthermore, there are inherent difficulties associated with only moving solar panels in a line which is parallel to either the side of the vehicle or parallel to the front or rear of the vehicle. The main problem is that one does not easily create the type of larger rectangular shape which conforms to parking spaces or areas traditionally assigned to one vehicle by moving solar panels only in either or both or both of the directions Ward proposes in this patent. Even if one made the conceptual leaps of radically increasing the size of the panels and of combining both directional movements which Ward suggests, one would find that it is almost impossible without very expensive mechanisms or without having some of the mechanisms located outside the perimeter of the area originally occupied by the solar array in the undeployed position. For that reason, the eleven movements I propose among the three embodiments of the present invention only include one very limited case of moving solar panels forwards and then sideways in two different motions. And the way I can use mechanisms located beyond the undeployed solar array area is that I use the most expensive group of devices of my three embodiments and locate most of them in the front hood area to move some solar panels whose nearest undeployed point is a few feet behind over the drivers seat area.

[0011] In addition to repeating the same movement possibilities suggested by Ward, Glynn (US 2012/0073885) also proposes that a stack of solar panels be connected by a rod or two and that they rotate around that rod. Even if one tried to expand either Glynn's idea to a much larger size than he seems to be proposing, the end result would not be a rectangular shaped deployed array. This would either reduce the amount of electricity generated due to the parts of the rectangle not covered by solar cells or it would require that some edges of the deployed solar array go far beyond the area of a parking space or the area traditionally assigned to a vehicle in other contexts. Even if one ignores the legal, PR or vandalism problems and the increased possibility that a passerby may inadvertently hit the corner of an array if it extends further beyond the edge of the vehicle, there is a more serious issue. The longer the furthest point of the array is from the vehicle perimeter, the more expensive and problematical the system becomes. Besides the other problems this would create, a solar array that has even one panel hanging significantly beyond a parking space could easily create an accident with a moving truck, RV or high van. If one of these vehicles with a high roof was driving in its legally allowed driving lane, it could easily run into the edge of a solar array which was far beyond the end of the legal parking space of the vehicle it was attached to.

[0012] From having tried out hundreds of different panel movements, I realize that the general idea of moving solar panels is only a rough beginning. For reasons explained in the background section, an optimal solution requires the movement of the panels to expand the total solar array from an area generally within the perimeter of a vehicle to an area which generally conforms to a parking space that is about eleven feet wide by about twenty two feet long. But even figuring out how to expand the array until it is as large as a parking space is to maximize solar electricity generation, is not enough on its own to solve the problem. One has to be careful, for instance, about what is happening when the array is undeployed. For instance, it is very possible to flip out solar panels to create a huge deployed array in such a way that the array produces no electricity at all when the vehicle is driven (as I myself did in a second embodiment of an earlier abandoned application; Freeman 20100193261). While the type of panel movement is important, even the ones I propose in the present invention are problematical when trying to increase the array size by any factor larger than two unless one adds another idea. The underlying reason that the present invention comes up with the idea of a vehicle roof with internal overhangs is that any alternative way to create a really huge array involves stacking up so many panels that handling their movements requires an overly expensive, overly robust and overly problematical system of actuators and other mechanisms. Additionally, a stack of more than four or five solar panels over a standard roof would end up creating a total extra height (including mechanisms) of over two feet. If one uses a stack of about ten solar panels (as Glynn suggests in a variation of his most promising possibility that could actually create a huge total deployed solar array as large as a parking space), then the height of the undeployed stack along with the mechanisms to realistically manipulate it would be about four to five feet above the vehicle roof. Even besides the aesthetic issues associated with such an ungainly array, such a high stack would end up being somewhat unreliable given that vehicles drive at highway speeds in windy conditions. The only way to make such a high array hard to shake when driving would be to use such robust versions of the mechanisms needed that their cost would be a huge percentage of the total vehicle price.

[0013] Furthermore, there is no patent or use which suggests the key oblique and fully rotational (ninety degree) movements which are featured in the present invention. I feature these two movements because they create the largest possible array with the lowest mechanism cost and with the most reduced added height of the panels and their mechanisms. In my opinion, the bottom line is that careful consideration of all of the other patents, patent applications and actual uses demonstrate that they haven't considered what type of actual panel geometries, sizes and movement make sense in terms of the geometry of vehicles, cost, reliability and of the area normally allotted to vehicles for parking.

[0014] It is also important to tilt the array towards the sun especially in the early morning and just before the sun go down. Proper positioning of a solar array which is close to horizontal at noon can make as much as a forty percent difference in electricity generation during the early morning and late afternoon hours. Many people have used formal two axis trackers or other complex systems to properly orient stationary solar arrays. But placing a two axis tracker or any of the other complex solar orientation devices used for stationary arrays on a moving vehicle is problematical. In fact, the complexities of integrating a formal two axis tracker system into a vehicle solar array is a major reason that I never filed a patent application on a vehicle system where a two axis tracker was required to orient the solar array to the sun. As I realized once I abandoned this effort, there is no need to use such a complex system in a moving vehicle. Instead, we can use the ability of the driver to pre-position a moving vehicle in the best possible direction when parking to simplify the system which one uses to orient the solar array of a moving vehicle. Once one assumes that the vehicle will be parked in a south facing direction, one can use actuators and other mechanisms to create a tilt to the array which always orients it in the general direction of the sun. And to fine tune that tilt to track the sun as it moves across the sky, one can use other mechanisms to either tilt the entire vehicle or to tilt the array in a way that can change over time. In the searches that the patent agent who helped me and I made, we have never found anything else which uses the ability of a driver to pre-position a moving vehicle in the most advantageous direction as an integral part of a much simpler orientation system for a vehicle. Of course, the complex calculations required to do this properly while also deploying and retracting a solar array also requires the use of an onboard computer. Our deployable solar array could only be oriented, retracted and deployed by a scientist, an engineer or by someone who spent significant time learning how to do it and acclimating themselves to using the system if there were no onboard computer involved. But a regular driver would have no problems with this system as long as a properly programmed onboard computer took the lead. Not only have we found no prior art that uses the drivers ability to preposition the vehicle while parking as a key element in orienting a solar array, but we have found no prior art that uses an onboard computer to help the driver accomplish the complex computational oriented tasks required to orient a deployable solar array on a vehicle. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0015] As the reader will understand better once one looks at figure one, the first key point of the present invention is that the present invention contemplates internal overhangs in the vehicle roof to allow us to position more square footage of solar panels on the vehicle roof than would be possible if it were a normal roof without any internal overhangs. In the first of the three embodiments described in the detailed description, this will result in one set of solar panels extending the total length of the lower roof surface and another set of solar panels extending the whole length of the vehicle in the higher roof surface. Not only can the solar panels mounted on the higher roof surface cover some of the area of the lower roof because of the ability of both sets of panels to sit on a vehicle roof which sits above the same ground, but the fact that one set of solar panels are on a higher level means that they can even extend over the other solar panels where there is no roof surface for them to sit direcdy on top of. Hence, there will be at least two groups of solar panels in the present invention. Just as there will be two sets of solar panels with one on a higher roof surface than the other one, there will be two solar panels in each set with one sitting on a higher level than the other one. How can this be done. [0016] There will be a stationary shelf covering one side of each roof surface. These shelves will be half the width of the vehicle and be just high enough above the roof surface that a solar panel and two mechanisms to move it and stabilize it will be able to fit in the area between the roof surface and the stationary shelf. While one of each set of solar panels will rest on the roof surface in the undeployed position, the other member of each set of solar panels will rest on the stationary shelf.

[0017] Each of these four solar panels (two on each roof surface and one of each set of two on a stationary shelf) will move at an oblique angle towards their deployed position. The final deployed result for the first embodiment listed in the detailed description and in the first six drawings will be that the two solar panels on the top roof surface will still cover that roof surface but also cover an area in front of the top roof surface equal to the area that they covered over the lower set of solar panels (not counting the roof overlap area). In addition to causing the set of two solar panels on the higher roof surface to move forwards, this oblique movement will also result in these two solar panels sitting next to each other (rather than on top of each other as they sit in the undeployed position). In effect, their differently angled oblique movements will cause one of them to cover the right half of the vehicle plus an equal area to the right side of the vehicle and cause the other solar panel in this set to cover the left half of the front of the vehicle and an equally wide area to its left. Just as the oblique movement of the top two solar panels will cause them to move sideways and forwards, the oblique movement of the bottom two solar panels will cause them to move backwards and sideways. The final result for an average sized crossover or minivan type vehicle is that a solar array which only covers the vehicle roof in the undeployed position will cover a typical parking space in the deployed position.

[0018] In other embodiments of the present invention, there also might be a rectangular solar panel which will be rotated from a position where its long edge is parallel to the long edge of the vehicle to a position where its long edge is perpendicular to the long edge of the vehicle. While other movement systems might also be possible under the terms of the present invention, the bottom line is that any use of the movement system contemplated in the present invention will expand an undeployed solar array from an area that is generally less than the footprint of the vehicle to one that is far larger than the footprint of the vehicle. By tilting some of the roof surfaces and using a titling mechanism to manipulate solar panels that are not sitting on tilted roof surfaces or tilted stationary shelves, the present invention also contemplates creating a fully deployed solar array where all solar panels are on the same plane and this plane is tilted with respect to the ground.

[0019] Additionally, this invention also contemplates a linking mechanism between deployed solar panels and a system for making sure that all solar cells will produce electricity whenever they are exposed to direct sunlight.

[0020] By parking the vehicle in a southerly direction and combining that with the use of jacks as outlined in the detailed description, we can create a gradually changing tilt of the entire vehicle in such a way that the solar array stays oriented towards the sun as it moves across the sky. Of course, one could also use a tiltable axle system or some other system to raise some of the wheels to create the de facto one axis tracker required to complement the driver's decision about how to park the car in order to orient the solar panels towards the sun as it moves across the sky. Alternatively, one could use a one axis tracker or a group of mechanism that orient the solar array itself towards the sun without tilting the vehicle under the array. Because all of the mechanical parts needed to make more than one of the type of systems just described are used thousands of times in other applications and none of them are especially complicated or prone to breakdown, the net result will be a reliable and reasonably priced vehicle.

[0021] Since there is nothing truly new under the sun and thousands of individuals (including teams of engineers from major car companies) have been trying to create a vehicle partly or fully powered by solar generated electricity, people have come up with a variety of ideas which could theoretically be combined in ways they weren't meant to be combined to roughly parallel what the present invention proposes. After reading any patent application and making the conceptual leaps which the inventor made, one can always make a tortuous argument that a person of average skill could make the imaginative leaps required to combine many features from different inventions and devices to create the end result of any particular patent application. But in this case, we are dealing with an issue (solar cars and solar mechanisms) which myriad creative individuals and teams of highly paid experienced engineers have been working on for at least a decade. If it were so obvious how to combine these features to create a vehicle that fulfills all of the potentially contradictory objectives A-H listed in the background section, why didn't someone do it before me in this present application? Furthermore, the fact that this particular combination of features creates the unexpected result that it opens a realistic avenue to replace gas cars and, thereby, mitigate global warming and prevent a future oil war means that the present invention creates an unexpected and incredibly important result as outlined in the patent law. Because it could help humanity avoid otherwise highly probable global warming and oil war super-catastrophes, this invention clearly fulfills the usefulness criteria of an invention at least as well as virtually any other patent application ever offered.

[0022] Before we move on to the sections involving the drawings, detailed description and the claims, it is necessary and useful for me to define various terms used in this patent application.

[0023] Along with their framework, the solar cells which generate electricity together in such a way that shading even a small percentage of them will cause all of them to stop being able to send electricity to an outside recipient (in this case circuits and a solar charge controller) are called solar panels. One or more solar panels that move in the same way from the undeployed position to the expanded position and to the fully deployed position (and vice versa) are called sets of solar panels.

[0024] In both the common usage and my usage of the term in the present invention, a solar panel refers to a group of solar cells that are held together by one substrate and within one framework. It is also true that there is an internal wiring among the solar cells in a particular solar panel which means that shading as little as eight percent of the solar panel has the effect of causing it to be unable to produce any significant amounts of usable electricity.

[0025] It is with this internal solar panel electrical wiring in mind that you can see the main reason that one would use two different solar panels to cover one area of solar cells which move together from the undeployed to the deployed position. The main reason that some embodiments of the present invention would be reducing their electricity output if they didn't use more than one solar panel for groups of solar cells which move together is that some of the solar cells which move together would be shaded when undeployed. If, for instance, one uses one solar panel to cover an area that is half shaded when undeployed, that one solar panel will typically produce no electricity in the undeployed position. But if one uses two solar panels to cover the same half shaded area, then one of them could produce electricity. Since some electricity production is better than none, this would make using two solar panels a better choice. In such a case, we could call the two solar panels moving in the same way from the undeployed to the deployed position a 'set" of solar panels.

[0026] Just as the form and area of a solar panel can vary, so can the type of solar cell vary. Monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, copper indium sulfide can all be used. Many currendy available solar cells of these types are made from bulk materials that are cut into wafers between 180 to 240 micrometers thick that are then processed like other semiconductors. But a promising new avenue is called thin film. Other types of organic dyes and polymers deposited on various supporting substrates have also been employed to convert solar energy into electricity. Nano-crystals and quantum dots (which are usually electron-confined nanoparticles) have also been employed to create solar generated electricity. Since the key to the present invention involves movement of groups of solar cells together from one position to another one, any type of solar cell can be used as long as they can be placed on some sort of substrate or within some sort of framework which can be moved around from one position to another one.

[0027] The differentiation between solar cells and solar panels is that the solar cells are the parts of the solar panel that actually convert solar energy into electricity. Other parts of the solar panel may include its framework. However, I also use the label "framework extension" to apply to something which is not necessary to hold the solar panel together but which is affixed to the edge of a solar panel's framework. They only are included on either the top or bottom of a framework. [0028] For purposes of this invention, oblique is defined as a direction of movement for a horizontal actuator or of a solar panel which is straight but at least ten degrees different from both the sides and the front or back of the vehicle upon which it is mounted. What this means related to the claims is that the direction of travel of both the horizontal actuators and the solar panels will be at an angle between ten and eighty degrees assuming that a straight line parallel with the side of the vehicle is considered zero degrees. While actuators are defined as the mechanism that moves using pneumatic, electrical, hydraulic or other forms of similar power type systems, there also are telescoping tracks which generally move alongside horizontally oriented actuators in the present invention. They are differentiated from actuators primarily because they are pulled by either an actuator directly or, more generally, by a solar panel which itself is moved by an actuator. [0029] For purposes of this invention, the words "vertical actuator" is used to describe any mechanism whose purpose is to move a solar panel in a direction which is closer to upwards or downwards than to horizontal. Horizontal actuators, on the other hand, are mechanisms whose purpose is to move solar panels in a direction that is closer to horizontal than to vertical. [0030] The present invention also uses the term "rotating actuator." This refers to an actuator that rotates a solar panel as opposed to horizontal and vertical actuators which move solar panels in one straight direction as discussed in the previous paragraphs. [0031] As I have already pointed out, I often use the word undeployed in the present invention. It often applies to solar panels in a position where at least eighty percent of all the solar cells are within the outside perimeter of the vehicle. When the solar panels have been repositioned where more than twenty percent of the total solar cells are beyond the outside perimeter of the vehicle with respect to the ground I either use the word expanded or the word deployed. The difference between expanded and fully deployed is that only the fully deployed solar array places all solar panels on the same plane (however, this plane usually is tilted with respect to the ground meaning that one side is higher than the other one). [0032] For purposes of the present invention, a roof includes everything that is normally considered a vehicle roof plus any other structure attached to the vehicle that is higher than the lowest point of the ceiling of the occupant area and which allows outside air to enter it. Such structures would include shelves exposed to the weather and mounted above most of the vehicle. However, any mechanism that moves using its own power such as an actuator and solar panels are not, themselves, considered part of the vehicle roof as the words are used in the present invention, especially the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figures 1-6 focus on the first embodiment of the present invention

[0034] Fig 1 is a side view of the vehicle and its roof with the solar array undeployed.

[0035] Fig 2 is a top view of the two solar panels and related mechanisms which are positioned in the front of the vehicle. [0036] Fig 3 is a rear view of the vehicle to help us understand how the rear two solar panels will be deployed.

[0037] Fig 4 is a top view of the two solar panels at the back of the vehicle to also help us understand how they will be deployed.

[0038] Fig 5 is a side view of the vehicle when the solar array is expanded and moving towards full deployment. This figure also includes electrical and internal vehicle parts not shown in other drawings of this embodiment.

[0039] Fig 6 is a top view of the vehicle with all four solar panels in the expanded and fully deployed positions.

[0040] Figures 7-11 focus on a second embodiment of the present invention

[0041] Fig 7 is a side view of a second embodiment of the vehicle with the solar panels undeployed

[0042] Fig 8 is a top view of the solar panels on the intermediate roof levels to show how they are deployed in this and other embodiments of the present invention which include swiveling solar panels

[0043] Fig 9 is a side view of a second embodiment of the vehicle with the solar panels expanded but not raised to their final deployed position. This figure also includes electrical and internal vehicle parts not shown in other drawings of this embodiment.

[0044] Fig 10 is a side view of the second embodiment of the vehicle after all the solar panels have been fully deployed.

[0045] Fig 11 is a top view of the second embodiment of the vehicle after all the solar panels have been fully deployed.

[0046] Figures 12-15 focus on a third embodiment of the present invention [0047] Fig 12 is a side view of the vehicle with the solar panels in the undeployed position

[0048] Fig 13 is a front view of the vehicle with the solar panels in the undeployed position

[0049] Fig 14 is a front view of the vehicle with the solar panels in the expanded position moving towards being fully deployed

[0050] Fig 15 is a top view of the vehicle with the solar panels in the fully deployed position

[0051] Figures 16-18 focus on how a computer will work with the driver to properly operate the mechanical aspects of the present invention

[0052] Fig 16 is a representation of how the onboard computer will help orient the solar array towards maximal electricity generation

[0053] Fig 17 is a representation of how the onboard computer will help driver protect the solar panels from extreme weather

[0054] Fig 18 is a representation of how the onboard computer will help driver maintain proper battery charge

[0055] List of drawing reference numbers

1 solar panel one

2 solar panel two

3 solar panel three

4 solar panel four

5 horizontal actuator

6 column 7 wheels/tires

8 jacks

9 telescoping slider

10 seats

11 front roof level

12 intermediate roof levels

13 rear roof level

15 clamping mechanisms

16 vertical actuators

17 rollers

18 the sun

23 windshield

24 oversized telescoping slider

25 stationary shelf

100 channel in solar panel 2

101 support for statonary plate

200 connections between column and supports 01 supports for rear solar panels 300 framework extensions

400 circuits

401 solar charge controller

402 onboard computer

403 battery array

404 electric motor

405 electric port

406 motor controller

407 wiring

500 outside perimeter of vehicle

600 fifth solar panel

601 sixth solar panel

602 rotating actuator

603 tilt mechanism for column

700 deployed rotating solar panel

800 direct sensing devices

1100 higher solar panel set that moves forwards and then sideways

1101 lower solar panel set that moves forwards and then sideways 1102 support structure

1200 front of hood area of vehicle.

1201 moving and gripping platform

1202 moving platform 1400 solar panel

1401 solar panel

1402 solar panel

1403 solar panel

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION REFERENCING THE DRAWINGS

[0056] To illustrate some of its similarities with all vehicles, figure one shows the windshield 23, wheels and tires 7 and seats 10. However, figure one also shows how the roof has two levels (11 and 13) higher than the heads of people sitting in either set of seats 10. Furthermore, the front roof level 11 overhangs the rear roof level 13. Not only does the overhang create a second roof surface under the overhang, but having a roof with two levels allows parts of two sets of solar panels (set one being solar panels 1 and 2 while set two is solar panels 3 and 4) to occupy the same area. To further increase the ability of one roof to hold more solar panels when they are in the undeployed position, shelves 25 exist over part of each roof level. In this way, each of two solar panel sets (1 and 3) can be primarily supported by one of the two stationary shelves, while each of the other two solar panel sets (2 and 4) can be supported by one of the two roof levels.

[0057] As we will see, the jacks 8 play an important role in helping orient the vehicle to the sun. But they are also useful to make it easier to change tires and make it possible to work under the vehicle without needing a lift or relying on comparatively unsafe free standing jacks. If you look carefully in figure one, there is one clamping mechanism 15 connected with each of the four solar panels. When the solar panels are subject to the aerodynamic forces associated with a vehicle moving at comparatively high speeds, these clamping mechanisms 15 grabbing onto some part of a solar panel will help prevent the solar panels from shaking, flying off or being damaged. But once the vehicle is parked and the solar panels are no longer subject to the aerodynamic forces of a vehicle travelling at high speeds, these clamping mechanism 15 can release the solar panels 1-4. This allows the solar panels 1-4 to be free to move from their undeployed to their deployed positions. Partly because the clamping mechanisms have released their solar panels, you don't see these clamping mechanisms 15 in the other drawings.

[0058] Just below solar panels 1-4 are rollers 17. They make it easier for the solar panels to move from one position to the other with minimal friction. Sticking out of the front corner just below solar panel 2 are horizontal actuators 5 and telescoping sliders 9. Although these items are not shown in figure one for the other three solar panels, all four solar panels use these two items as the main components to allow them to move obliquely from their undeployed to their deployed positions.

[0059] If one now looks at the same two items in the top view of figure two, we can see how they work together to help solar panels 1 and 2 move obliquely (which has the effect of them moving both forwards and sideways at the same time). Although solar panel 2 is only shown after it has been deployed to a position besides solar panel 1, we can see that solar panel 1 is shown occupying two positions. The one solar panel 1 next to solar panel 2 is partly in front of and partly besides the vehicle. The other solar panel 1 is atop the vehicle. Solar panel 2 isn't shown in its undeployed position totally atop the vehicle because it is just below solar panel 1 occupying the same footprint. In other words, solar panel 1 and 2 are stacked up with solar panel 1 on top when they are both in the undeployed position.

[0060] It is because the end of solar panels 1 and 2 are affixed to the ends of the inner tubes of the horizontal actuators 5 that the movement of the linear actuators cause the solar panels to move the same distance and at the same angle as the moving inner tube of the horizontal actuators 5 move. There are double lines to represent the horizontal actuator in its undeployed position within the perimeter of the undeployed solar panels 1 and 2. In that position, the inner tube is within the outer tube so the length of the linear actuator is about equal to the length of the outer tube. But the single set of dotted lines coming out of the original position of the horizontal actuator 5 represents the movement of the inner tube of the linear actuators. And as the inner tube of the linear actuator move, so too does the solar panel to which it is attached.

[0061] The telescoping plates 9 next to the linear actuator are itself pulled by the solar panels 1 and 2. Since solar panel 2 is lower than solar panel 1, it is raised by the vertical actuators 16 in figure two to the same level as solar panel 1. One number 16 straddles the line between the deployed solar panel 1 and the deployed solar panel 2. Half of this item is a vertical actuator and half is a permanent support for the shelf on which solar panel 1 sits.

[0062] Running at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from this item 16 to one of the two rear comers of the undeployed place where solar panels 1 and 2 are stacked up is a pair of dotted lines. Since it is needed to support the shelf where solar panel 1 sit, the half of item 16 which supports the shelf 25 must be there all the time. Hence, solar panel 2 (which sits just below solar panel 1 in the undeployed position) could never move unless it had a slit which exactly matched the part of solar panel 2 which would bang into this support/vertical actuator 16 as the solar panel 2 moved from its undeployed to its deployed position. Hence, the slit which we label 100 in figure two. Although it appears to be in solar panel 1 because that is the only undeployed solar panel shown in this drawing, this slit is actually just below solar panel 1 in solar panel 2. Figure 101 is the back wall which joins with the aforementioned vertical support labeled 16 to support the shelf upon which solar panel 1 sits.

[0063] At the back end of the vehicle in figures one, three and five is a column 6. Its purpose is to support the rear solar panels (3 and 4), their linear actuators 5, their telescoping sliders 9 and the support 20 for these rear solar panels 3 and 4. In figure three, you can see the column 6 and the connections 200 which connect it to the three supports 201 and to the solar panels 3 and 4.

[0064] The horizontal actuators 5 in Figure four move solar panels 3 and 4 in the same way that solar panels 1 and 2 are moved by their horizontal actuators as described four paragraphs ago. Similarly, the telescoping sliders 9 shown n figure four are pulled by the moving solar panels 3 and 4 in the same way that the telescoping sliders 9 are pulled by solar panels 1 and 2. All four of these telescoping sliders 9 move alongside the four linear actuators 5 to help balance the four solar panels (1-4) they are just below. As we see, the oblique movement of all four solar panels is accomplished in the same basic way. However, it is the movement upward of column 6 which causes solar panels 3 and 4 to move upwards. Only solar panel 4 moves upward until it reaches the level of solar panel 3. Then they both move upwards to the same level as solar panels 1 and 2 as per the directional arrows in figure five. Just as the two solar panels coming upwards the furthest (3 and 4) have framework extensions 300 on their bottoms, the two solar panels they come upwards to meet (1 and 2) have framework extensions 300 on their tops. By looking at the top view of the solar array in figure six, we see that the framework extensions 300 attached to solar panels 1 and 2 go over part of the top framework of solar panels 3 and 4. And if one looks at figure five, we see that similar framework extensions 300 come out of the bottom of solar panels 3 and 4. Because of how these framework extensions span the very small gap between the edges of the two sets of solar panels, we see that the combined effect of the top and bottom framework extensions 300 on the shorter side of the solar panels is to interlock panels 4 and 3 and to interlock solar panels 1 and 3. But of course, there are also similar top and bottom framework extension on the longer sides of the solar panels. These have the effect of interlocking solar panel 1 and 2 and of interlocking solar panels 3 and 4. In total, the effect of these eight framework extensions is to form one continuous group of solar panels after all the solar panels have moved upwards in addition to moving obliquely. Although figures seven through eleven depict a different embodiment of the present invention, one can look at figure ten to visualize the final resting place of solar panels 3 and 4 in their fully deployed position from a side view. The second embodiment (figures seven through eleven) includes two solar panels (600 and 601) which are not included in the first embodiment as depicted in figures one through six. However, the common denominator of all the solar panels hning up on the same tilting plane with each one interlocked because of their framework extensions 300 is the same for all three embodiments of the present invention (the third embodiment is depicted in figures twelve through fifteen as we will soon discuss).

[0065] Since we have been focusing on solar panel movement, I would like to also note that the second embodiment (and a third embodiment which follows) of figures seven through fifteen include at least one swiveling (or rotating) solar panel(s). In both embodiments, the swiveling solar panels 601 (and/or 600) occupy a deployed position between the front and rear solar panels. In general, the idea of swiveling solar panels in the middle and solar panels that move forwards or backwards in the front and back respectively will apply to most embodiments of the present invention.

[0066] How solar panels rotate ninety degrees (which could also be called swiveling) is shown best by looking at figures seven and eight. As we see in figure seven, there is a rotating actuator 602 just below solar panels 600 and 601. In figure eight we see a directional arrow pointing in a counterclockwise direction around this rotating actuator 602. Just as the movement of the horizontal actuators causes solar panels 1,2,3 and 4 to move in the same direction and the same distance as the actuator moves, so too does the movement of the rotating actuator 602 cause the solar panel to which it is attached to move. As this rotating actuator 602 turns in the counterclockwise direction depicted by the directional arrow, it moves the solar panel from the undeployed position 602 to the deployed position 700. By using what is below (roof line 12 in particular in figure eight and by seeing solar panel 602 in the context of the entire vehicle in figure seven), we see that the long side of the undeployed solar panel 601 is running parallel with the long side of the vehicle. On the other hand, figure eight makes it clear that the long side of the same deployed solar panel (labeled 700 in figure eight and also in one figure fifteen for the third embodiment) is mnning perpendicular to the long side of the vehicle and to the undeployed position of the same solar panel (i.e., 601).

[0067] Returning to figure five we can see how the solar and other electrical aspects of this system interacts with the other key parts which make this an electric vehicle rather than one with only an internal combustion engine. [0068] Since the wavy line labeled 407 is the internal wiring of the vehicle, we can start with circuits 400. We are starting with circuit 400 because it is the first place that the electricity generated by the solar panels travels to.

[0069] Because solar panel 1 is always generating electricity, it makes sense to use a more expensive higher efficiency solar panel in this position. To understand why I am suggesting this arrangement, it is useful to know that most high efficiency solar panels are set to deliver a higher voltage than the average solar panel. If the voltage of this solar panel 1 is set to be about equal to the combined voltage of the other three solar panels 2,3 and 4, then each of the two circuits 400 in figures five or nine will be dealing with electricity coming in at about the same voltage. This voltage level should be somewhat higher than the voltage required to run the motor 404. In this way, the solar charge controller 401 will have an easier job regulating the voltage of the electricity it gets from the two circuits 400 to an even (and somewhat lower) level for transfer to the battery array 403. This lower and even voltage which is transferred into the battery array 403 will be the same voltage which the battery array 403 transfers to the motor 404 when needed to operate the vehicle. In practice, most electric vehicles will use another controller 406 as a sort of interface between the motor, battery array and the foot pedal that the driver uses to determine the speed of the vehicle. If the motor doesn't need electricity because the vehicle is not being driven, the solar electricity will be used to fully charge the battery array 403. When the battery array is fully charged, any solar electricity which is still being produced can be transferred through external electrical port 405 into any structure with a compatible electrical port located near where the vehicle is parked. If the battery array is not fully charged, electricity from a nearby structure can travel through electrical port 405 to help the solar panels charge the battery array 403.

[0070] The electrical movement is slightly different for the second embodiment of the present invention because it includes more solar panels and probably needs a stronger motor since it is a bigger vehicle. Nonetheless, the electrical movement is similar enough that figure nine (which shows the movement of electricity for this second embodiment) includes the same based items as figure five.

[0071] With this in mind, let us consider the other function of electrical port 405. Besides sending out excess electricity as just described, it can be used to import electricity from a nearby structure or electrical generating or transfer facility to recharge the batteries 403 when needed.

[0072] Partly because the movement of the solar panels from the deployed to the expanded and then fully deployed positions is a somewhat complex operation, the present invention features an onboard computer 402 whose electricity also comes from the battery array 403. Not only does this onboard computer control the actual deployment and retraction of the solar panels when the driver has decided to deploy or retract the solar array, but this onboard computer 402 can sometimes retract the solar panels on its own. It will do this if the driver is otherwise occupied and the weather is about to get too windy or another extreme weather event is about to occur. As figure seventeen suggests, the computer will use weather reports and its own ability to feel how windy or rainy it is getting in the vicinity of the vehicle (all of the direct sensing devices of the onboard computer are shown as figure 800) to decide whether it would be prudent to retract a deployed solar array to a less vulnerable undeployed position.

[0073] Once all the solar panels are on the same plane and this plane is tilted where the back part is higher than the front part, it is necessary to park the vehicle in a generally south facing direction (north facing in the southern hemisphere). Partly because it is difficult to know where true south lies, partly because one usually has only a few parking directional choices and partly because the sun moves across the sky, the vehicle includes strong internal jacks 8. These can be used to raise one or more comers of the vehicle to fine-tune the positioning of the solar array to maximize solar power generation. In parking appropriately, one must also consider large objects and how they might shade the solar array over time. Due to the complexity associated with this process, figure sixteen illustrates how an onboard computer can take the lead role in this process.

[0074] The first step in the procedure depicted in figure sixteen is for the driver to input the length of time they plan to remain parked. With that information in mind, the computer will use an outside camera type device to place any nearby objects taller than the lowest deployed solar panel on a form of internal display. Not only will the computer be given preprogrammed knowledge of how the sun is going to move across the sky on any given day, but this will be supplemented by actual observations by a camera type device. Related to the above, the computer will also determine how the movement of the sun over this period of time will affect the watts of electricity can be generated by solar panels in various positions. With all this information and considering the mechanisms available to reposition solar panels and raise or lower the vehicle in different ways, the computer will suggest the available parking space which will maximize its ability to generate the most solar electricity possible during the proposed period of time that the vehicle will be parked. It will also suggest the direction of parking within the parking space chosen by the driver which would maximize solar electricity generation over the time when the vehicle is parked. Once the vehicle has been parked, the computer will use the aforementioned information to help it use whatever mechanisms are available to maximize solar electricity generated by orienting the array towards the sun as much as possible.

[0075] There is also a danger that heavy winds, very heavy precipitation or some combination of the two might create a high probability that solar panels might be damaged if they are left in the more vulnerable deployed position. Hence, figure seventeen illustrates the considerations which an onboard computer would make to retract the array or suggest that the array never be deployed if extreme weather conditions existed.

[0076] The first step in the procedure depicted in figure seventeen is for an onboard sensor to detect the current wind level and to detect whether it is raining or snowing and, if so, the level of precipitation. The onboard computer will also monitor at least one weather report through the vehicle radio or another device. With this information in mind, the onboard computer will compare the current and projected level of wind and precipitation to pre-programmed yardsticks which indicate what levels of wind and precipitation might cause damage to an undeployed solar array. If the danger is imminent in accordance with pre- programmed parameters when the driver is parking the vehicle, the computer will alert the driver and suggest that the solar panels not be deployed. If the danger is not imminent when the vehicle is being parked but it becomes imminent during the period of time when the vehicle is parked, the onboard computer will be authorized to retract the solar array to its less vulnerable undeployed position.

[0077] Based on being programmed to know all electric charging stations and on a GPS type knowledge of where places are, figure eighteen indicates how the onboard computer 402 will also help the driver find a nearby electric recharging station if this is necessary. To determine if it is necessary, the computer will consider how many driving miles of energy are left in the battery array and how much solar energy will be generated during a proposed drive to a particular destination. If the vehicle won't make it to the destination without making a detour to an electric charging station, then the computer will inform the driver of this fact. The computer will also compare the long-term damage done to the battery array if its charge goes below a predetermined percent versus the costs associated with making the shortest detour to an electric charging station to give the driver the information they need to decide whether it makes sense to make a detour even in cases where it is technically possible to make a proposed trip without making a detour. This is shown in figure eighteen. [0078] The first step of the procedure depicted in figure eight is for the driver to input an onboard computer with the destination they intend to drive to. Using a GPS type system, the computer will calculate the mileage to that destination. The computer will then compare the miles to that destination to the charge of the energy storage devices (or battery array) and consider how much lower the charge will become (counting the probable solar energy output during the drive if there is to be any solar energy output during the drive). If the final projected charge level is low enough to cause potential long-term damage to the battery or lower, then the computer will also calculate the detour distance and time required to go to battery recharging stations on the way to recharge the batteries. Using all this knowledge, the computer will alert the driver to the pros and cons of stopping at particular battery recharging stations or of trying to make the trip with no stops. These pros and cons will include the likelihood of long-term damage to the battery array, the amount of potential long term damage and the possibility of actually running out of charge and being unable to continue driving the vehicle. Based on this information, the driver will make the ultimate decision about whether and where to stop for recharging.

[0079] Related to the electrical and computer based system just described, outside sensing device 800 of figure nine would also be put on any embodiment of the vehicle. It could include a camera and other devices for detecting local weather and making a de facto mapping of nearly objects as they could impact the solar generating capacity of the solar array. This outside sensing device 800 is necessary for the onboard computer to gain some of the input depicted in figures sixteen, seventeen and eighteen and as described herein.

[0080] The second embodiment of the vehicle shown in figures seven through eleven is essentially a longer version of the first embodiment. Because this type of embodiment would typically be a truck or bus, I made the direction of the roof layering and of the solar panel tilting different. This is because a taller back and shorter front would probably work better for a truck (giving it a high cargo area) or a bus (giving it the ability for it to be a double decker bus in most of the areas behind the driver). [0081] Figures twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen generally illustrate what is different about a third embodiment. In figure twelve, we see that the solar panels

3 and 4 in the rear of this third embodiment are at a different angle than the other solar panels (1100, 1101 and 602). As is also true in regard to the second embodiment, there is or could be a tilting mechanism 603. In terms of this third embodiment, the purpose of this tilting mechanism is to move solar panels 3 and

4 to the same plane as solar panels 601, 1100 and 1101 during the final stages towards deployment. Like the other pair of rear panels, the two back panels in this third embodiment are numbered 3 and 4 because they use one horizontal actuator per panel to move at an oblique angle from their undeployed to their deployed position and vice versa. Similarly, the very top panel 601 and its rotary actuator 602 are given the same numbers as other swiveling panels in the second embodiment because they move in the same way. But because rotating solar panel 601 is mounted above all other solar panels in this third embodiment, a supporting structure 1102 is needed. The cross hatching represent the area of a covering plate that is on both sides of solar panels 1100 and 1101 in the area where this supporting structure for solar panel 601 exists. While these side supporting plates do not have slits, there have to be slits on the back panel of this structure to allow solar panels 1100 and 1101 to pass through. Nonetheless, there is also a cross piece connecting the two sides of structure 1103 at the level between solar panels 100 and 1101. Both a horizontal actuator 5 and a telescoping track 9 will be anchored from behind by being connected to this cross piece. Since they will be between solar panels 1100 and 1101, the front of the horizontal actuator 5 and telescoping track 9 will be attached to both solar panels near their front perimeter. When the vehicle is parked and it is decided to begin deploying the array, horizontal actuator 5 will move forward far enough to move both solar panels 1100 and 1101 to their final forward position. Telescoping track 9 will move alongside to create two points of balance for both solar panels 1100 (from below) and 1101 (from above). Once both solar panels 1100 and 1101 are in their forward position, figure thirteen shows how they will be connected to moving platforms 1201 and 1202. After column six comes out of the hood area 1200 to raise moving platform 1202 to the level needed to support solar panel 1101. At that point, most of solar panel 1101 rests on top of moving platform 1202. Once this happens, horizontal actuator 5 and telescoping track 9 will give up their grip on solar panel 1101. Although I add the word "grip" to the name of the moving platform 1201 that holds up solar panel 1100, its position in the corner does not make it easy to get a fully secure grip no matter how well it is constructed. Therefore, horizontal actuator 5 and telescoping track 9 will still retain their grip on solar panel 1100 as solar panel 1101 is moved sideways by the movement of moving platform 1202 underneath it. (this direction of movement for moving platform 1202 and solar panel 1100 is indicated by the thicker arrow on the left side of figure thirteen and by the new positioning of solar panel 1101 as shown in figure fourteen). At that point shown in figure fourteen, vertical actuator 16 at the top end of column 8 is raised to a level high enough to replace linear actuator 5 (first) and then telescoping track 9 as the left side support for solar panel 1100. As we see from the darker directional arrows in figure fourteen, the column will then raise both solar panels 1100 and 1101 (which are now on the same plane) to the same level as the originally higher rotating solar panel 601.

[0082] Once the back solar panels 3 and 4 are also raised to the same plane as illustrated by the directional arrows in figures five, all five solar panels of this third embodiment are on the same plane. As was true for figure six in regard to the first embodiment, one can look at figure ten and fifteen to visualize how all the solar panels in each embodiment will be lined up on the same plane in their fully deployed position.

[0083] As was true for the final figure of the first and second embodiments (figures six and eleven respectively), the final figure of this embodiment (fifteen) best illustrates the main point of the present invention. It does this by showing how much larger the total solar array is versus the dotted line 500 which represents the outline of the vehicle. It is because the solar array is so much larger than the vehicle that it can produce enough electricity to play the primary role in powering the vehicle. At the same time, it is because the huge solar array created by all three embodiments forms a huge rectangle whose outside edges are only a few feet from the outside edges of the vehicle that it can be accommodated within most standard parking spaces. For the same reasons, the deployed solar array does not stick out so far that it creates a major danger for accidents with passing vehicles which are high enough to hit it. [0084] Although the final figures of each embodiment are similar as noted above, there is one key aspect of the present invention which I only indicated in the drawings associated with the third embodiment. This was done to avoid confusion when looking at the figures depicting the first two embodiments. In figure fifteen alone, I divide up solar panels 1100 and 1101 into three parts. If one superimposes those three parts over figure twelve, we see that 1400, 1401, 1402 and 1403 are the parts of solar panels 1100 and 1101 which are not covered by solar panel 601 in the undeployed position of figure twelve. This was done to illustrate that all solar panels which were partly covered in the undeployed position will be manufactured in a way that allows the parts of any solar panel which are always uncovered to generate electricity even while the vehicle is being driven and the array is undeployed. Doing this requires the solar panel manufacturer to follow a wiring schematic that separates the wiring system of the parts of the solar panels. The result will be that those panels which generate electricity in only the deployed position will be wired separately from the parts of the solar panels that generate electricity in both the deployed and undeployed positions.

[0085] I also would like to note that figure twelve of this third embodiment shows a jack 8 in the rear position while the other two embodiments show jacks 8 in both a front and rear position. Additionally, each of these three embodiments would have jacks 8 on the opposite side of the vehicle. While having only two jacks (one on the rear of each side of the vehicle) as per this third embodiment would not give the onboard computer 402 as many options to properly orient the deployed solar array towards the sun 18, it would be less expensive to build.

[0086] In addition to the four, five and six solar panel embodiments described, one could also create other embodiments of the present invention with three solar panels, six or more solar panels. One could also use different tilting patterns, different angles of inclination of the solar array or different numbers or types of vehicle roof overlaps. While there are also other common denominators of importance, the key common denominators of all possible embodiments is that they will have at least one roof overlap and that they have at least two solar panels being moved by one horizontal actuator per solar panel at an oblique angle.

[0087] There is one more point I would like to make before closing this section. While figure three represents the rear part of the second embodiment as well as the first and third embodiment, it only fully applies to a bus version of the second embodiment or to a very long personal vehicle. The placement of the column 6 in the middle of the rear of the vehicle is probably not optimal for a big truck. In order to get a fork lift into the rear of the vehicle when it is parked at a loading dock, a big truck would probably move the column 6 to one of the two sides. This would not be particularly difficult and how to do it was not included in the drawings since it should be obvious to someone of average skill in the art. All that would be required is to shorten the connections between the column 6 and one of the two supports 201 and to lengthen the connections between the column 6 and the other two supports 201. [0088] There is an alternate way to avoid using the complex set of mechanisms that are problematical for the rear of a truck and are used to raise solar panels to virtually the exact same plane (as per figures thirteen and fourteen for embodiment three and as per figures three and four for the first embodiment) for buses, cars or vans. In fact, one does not need to raise a set of lower panels to the same plane as higher solar panels if the lower solar panels are on the south side of the vehicle when it is parked. This more terraced look where the deployed solar panels are on different levels can work as long as the lower level solar panels are on the south side of the parked vehicle. The key point here is that a higher solar panel does not shade a lower one. Although it is possible to make the present invention work this way, doing it might degrade the ability to fully orient the deployed solar array towards the sun. It could also create some other difficulties involved with parking and orienting the array. Leaving solar panels on different levels in the deployed position would also make it much more difficult to interlock the solar panels. With all these pros and cons in mind, there are probably more advantages than disadvantages in putting all the deployed solar panels on the same plane. Hence, all of the three embodiments shown in the drawings do so.

[0089] Although, the terms and definitions used in the specification are intended to be read into the claims they are not intended to limit the meets and bounds of the claims presented here below in any manner whatsoever.