Tesla is one of the world's leading automotive manufacturers, famous for all its technological innovations. In particular, in the electric vehicle sector, which is the expertise of the brand headquartered in Texas, United States,.

The latest is the use of Tesla's new feature called Charge on Solar, namely charging electricity using solar power.

According to Tech Crunch, owners of Tesla electric cars that have a solar power generation system and also a Tesla energy storage device called Powerwaal can now activate the solar feature via their smartphones. However, first, users must download the Tesla application on their smartphone

Then, with this feature, users can set charging limits that suit the needs of their electric car.

Meanwhile, Tesla's advanced features related to electric charging are only available in the United States and Canada.

This advanced feature from Tesla will actually be introduced in May 2023. However, it has a different name from the current one, namely Drive on Sunshine. And previously, Tesla's high technology could only be accessed by owners of vehicles produced in 2021 and also equipped with a Powerwall system.

Development of solar powered cars

Solar-powered car technology has actually been developed by many global automotive manufacturers. In fact, this was done long before electric cars became as popular as they are today

Research and development of solar-powered cars began in the 1950s, initiated by General Motors. This manufacturer from Uncle Sam's country made the Sunmobile, a modification of the Corvette that was reportedly able to use solar energy to move on stage at the Chicago Auto Show at that time.

Since then, other car manufacturers, such as Lightyear, Fisker, Karma, Toyota, and Tesla, have started developing solar-powered cars. 

However, there is one problem with this solar-powered car, namely that the power produced is not comparable to electricity. For example, in 2019, the option of solar power as an electric motor generator can be found in the new Toyota Prius Prime. However, the power produced is not even enough to increase the distance by around 2 miles during the day. And of course, the solar power generated depends on where the car owner and his vehicle are located and parked.

If in that area there is no sun, or the weather is cloudy or rainy and no sun is shining, then the solar power cannot be distributed to the four wheels.

However, solar power technology is gaining ground, and it makes sense. In fact, there are startup companies, such as Sono Motors and Lightyear, that are developing electric vehicles that are powered in large part by onboard solar.

Then, Musk, as the owner of Tesla, studied the idea and, in 2017, said that he encouraged engineers to integrate solar cells in the Model 3, but according to him, it was not worth the power generated