Innovation

Can car with solar panels go without charging in summer?

Ook op een truck zorgen zonnepanelen voor een flinke besparing aan kosten en CO2-uitstoot.

Those heading south along the Autoroute du Soleil soon may no longer need charging stations. Researchers are trying to show that solar panels on cars could ease pressure on Europe’s charging network.

The SolarMoves project shows that solar panels on vehicles (Vehicle Integrated PV, or VIPV) could be a way to relieve pressure on the power grid. Indeed, researchers from a consortium of knowledge institutes TNO and Fraunhofer and industry players Lightyear, IM Efficiency and Sono Motors discovered that solar-powered vehicles charge less electricity and emit half as much CO2.

The study is being commissioned by the European Commission, and is supposed to examine whether solar panels on vehicles can relieve the European power grid when within a decade virtually all transport has to be electric. Answer given by the researchers now: yes. Still when the sun shines, and in summer.

They calculated this for Madrid, but according to the researchers there will also be situations in the Netherlands where you will hardly need to charge in summer thanks to the solar panels on your car. In the Spanish capital, it’s about eighty percent power that can be drawn from the sun, in Amsterdam you still get back 55 percent as well.

Less diesel

For buses and trucks, the result is less clear-cut. Those vehicles drive more, so the solar contribution in percentages is lower. Still, there too, there are gains to be made in CO2 and cost reduction. After all, the solar energy will put less load on the alternator, and the truck consumes up to 20 per cent less diesel.

For the project, passenger cars, vans, trucks and buses equipped with mobile irradiance sensors drove across Europe. An interim report on that measurement phase will be discussed with the European Commission on 7 May, but the conclusion that solar panels offer a substantial benefit already seems clear. And that we will soon be intentionally parking in the sun too.

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This article was automatically translated from the Dutch language original to English (British).

Author: Matthieu Van Steenkiste

Source: MobilityEnergy.com

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