Solar auxiliary power systems for vehicles

1. An auxiliary power system, for employment with a vehicle, said vehicle comprising an engine, a storage battery, and an engine-driven charging device for charging said storage battery, said vehicle further comprising an electrically-driven heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and/or one or more comfort loads; and

said auxiliary power system comprising:

an auxiliary electrical power storage unit;

an auxiliary electrical generation device connected to said auxiliary electrical power storage unit for generating electrical power for storage in said auxiliary electrical power storage unit;

wherein said auxiliary electrical generation device comprises an array of solar panels mounted on the roof of said vehicle, and wherein said array of solar panels can be operated as a heating element by reverse-biasing said array of solar panels employing power from said auxiliary electrical power storage unit or said engine-driven charging device; and

controllable switching devices for controlling flow of electrical energy between said auxiliary electrical generation device, said auxiliary electrical power storage unit, said array of solar panels, said electrically-driven heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and/or one or more comfort loads.

2. The auxiliary power system of claim 1 , wherein said auxiliary electrical power storage unit comprises an auxiliary storage battery.

3. The auxiliary power system of claim 1 , wherein said HVAC system is adapted to be driven by AC power, said auxiliary electrical power storage unit comprises an auxiliary storage battery for storing DC power, and said auxiliary power system further comprises an inverter for converting DC power stored in said auxiliary storage battery to AC for supply to said HVAC system.

4. The auxiliary power system of claim 1 , further comprising a heating element mounted on the roof of said vehicle for heating the roof of said vehicle responsive to power from said auxiliary electrical power storage unit.

5. The auxiliary power system of claim 4 , wherein said heating element mounted on the roof of said vehicle comprises an electrical resistance heater.

6. The auxiliary power system of claim 4 , wherein said heating element mounted on the roof of said vehicle comprises an electrical resistance heater, and wherein said resistance heater is integrated with said array of solar panels.

7. The auxiliary power system of claim 5 , further comprising an inflatable bladder adapted to be inflated to dislodge snow and ice from the roof of said vehicle.

8. The auxiliary power system of claim 7 , wherein said electrical resistance heater and said array of solar panels are mounted on an outer surface of said bladder such that said bladder can be inflated without disturbance of the functions of said resistance heater and solar panels.

9. The auxiliary power system of claim 1 , wherein said vehicle is a truck and trailer combination, and wherein said truck comprises said engine, storage battery, and engine-driven charging device for charging said storage battery, said truck further comprising said electrically-driven heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and/or one or more comfort loads; and wherein said trailer comprises:

said auxiliary electrical power storage unit;

said auxiliary electrical generation device connected to said auxiliary electrical power storage unit for generating electrical power for storage in said auxiliary electrical power storage unit, and said array of solar panels, said array of solar panels being mounted on the roof of said trailer; and

said controllable switching devices for controlling flow of electrical energy between said auxiliary electrical generation device, said auxiliary electrical power storage unit, and said electrically-driven heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) system, said array of solar panels, and/or one or more comfort loads.

10. The auxiliary power system of claim 1 further comprising an interconnection to an external power system, at least one of the controllable switching devices responsive to the interconnection for harvesting excess power.

11. The auxiliary power system of claim 10 wherein the external power system is an electrical grid infrastructure and the interconnection is adapted to provide flow of power to the electrical grid infrastructure.

12. The auxiliary power system of claim 11 wherein the interconnection conforms to guidelines of regulatory authorities for value recognition of the power flow.

13. The auxiliary power system of claim 1 further comprising a generator driven by excess kinetic energy of said vehicle to provide further electrical power for storage in said auxiliary electrical power storage unit.