The idea of Tesla's Cybertruck being kitted with onboard solar panels is not new; Elon Musk himself had once mentioned plans to add solar panels to the retractable cover over the trunk bed, adding up to 15 miles a day to the vehicle’s range, but that never materialised.
Now, Sunflare Solar, which makes flexible solar panels for homes and camping vehicles, has managed to wrap the entire body of a Cybertruck with its thin film CIGS solar cells. It claims that the cells can generate up to 1.5 kW of power, which is collected by a battery/inverter unit (included with the system) and fed to the vehicle. As exciting as it may seem, though, the idea that it might contribute meaningfully to the range seems a bit dubious.
As you can see in the video below (taken at CES 2025), the wrap with the embedded solar cells is made of a slightly thick yet flexible vinyl-like material, with a digital-camo style pattern printed on it purely for cosmetic reasons. The battery inverter, a hefty box about the size of a large suitcase, goes in the rear bed.
Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! Wanted:
- News Writer (Romania based)
Details here
The Cybertruck’s body is, of course, all large flat surfaces, and Sunflare’s wrap covers practically all of them, including the doors and the front and rear bumper areas. The problem is that many of these body panels are angled downward, so the energy collected from there would be negligible.
As we know, solar cells need to face the sun directly for maximum output. In fact, the most ideal surface for solar panels–the top–is hardly covered at all, except the small ‘frunk’ cover. On the forums, some have also pointed out that even assuming normal incidence everywhere, the claimed 1.5 kW power figure would require a much larger area than is available. According to other estimates, the solar car film could add 12-18 miles of range a day, but that figure assumes a lot of ideal conditions.
The solar wrap costs $10,000 with installation, and includes a 15-year warranty, which should at least alleviate concerns of durability. Given that a full PPF wrap for the Cybetruck costs well upwards of $5,000 some might consider this as worthwhile, but there’s also the issue of that battery inverter taking up considerable space.
If using solar power when travelling off-grid is something that excites you, you could consider the Bluetti AC180 1152Wh portable power station and 200W solar panel kit, currently discounted by 42% on Amazon. A more compact option would be the FlexSolar 60W portable solar panel charger, also currently on discount.