DartSolar to Ship 500-W Roof-Rack Solar Modules for Cars in December

• DartSolar said pre-order deliveries of its expandable roof-rack solar array start in December 2026.
• Two 500-W modules give a sedan 1,000 W; pickups take 1,500 to 2,000 W, vans 2,000 W and up.
• The company says the array adds 10 to 20 miles of EV range a day, but pitches it mainly for power stations.

DartSolar, a Los Angeles start-up, will begin delivering its expandable roof-rack solar array to pre-order customers in December, putting 1,000 watts of panels on a sedan with two 500-watt modules.

The modules bolt to standard crossbars without drilling, the company said in a statement on Oct. 27. Three or four fit a pickup for 1,500 to 2,000 watts. Four or more cover a van, trailer or camper roof for 2,000 watts and up.

The full rating needs a parked vehicle. Two of each module's three panels telescope out, to roughly 14 to 15 feet by company figures. On the road only the static panel works, about a third of the array, according to DartSolar's website, which lists prices starting at $1,350.

DartSolar says the array can add about 10 to 20 miles of EV range a day, and that for most owners it keeps a portable power station or house battery full. For scale, EPA figures on fueleconomy.gov rate a 2026 Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD at 27 kWh per 100 miles and a 2026 Rivian R1T Dual Large at 43 kWh.

The array in numbers

• 500 W per module, from three panels of 170 W each, according to the company's spec sheet.
• 45 lb (20 kg) per module, so a two-module sedan setup adds 90 lb to the roof rack.
• About 5,000 Wh a day from 1,000 W on a full day of sun, the company says, or five hours at full rated output (list.solar calculation).
• About 18.5 miles of Model Y range from those 5 kWh, before charging losses (list.solar calculation).
• About 17 miles for a Rivian R1T carrying 1,500 W, assuming the same 5 kWh per kW a day (list.solar calculation).
• 100 mph folded in testing; the company advises staying under 70 mph and rates the open array for gusts up to 25 mph.

DartSolar spent four years on research and development and took pre-orders two years ago. It has filed four patent applications on its linear-expansion mechanism and designs for a 10-year outdoor service life. A 4-mm polycarbonate shell covers the panels. STEP files for its plastic parts are free under a share-alike licence.

"If you can print the part, you never wait on us," founder Omid Sadeghpour said in the statement.

Orders placed now will ship after the pre-order batch. Shipping is included within the contiguous U.S.