Urban shadowing on solar-powered vehicles
New research shows high potential for solar-powered vehicles across the world, providing between 11 km/day/kWp to 29 km/day/kWp of extended range in open areas, enabling significant levels of self-sufficiency.
Mobile application to predict optimal energy efficient route for solar vehicles
Irish researchers have created a mobile app that calculates the best route for solar-powered vehicles based on user preferences for time and energy efficiency. The app’s experiment predicted the most energy-absorbing route with 51.65% accuracy and chose the most energy-consuming route with 86.65% accuracy.
Efficiency of solar vehicles in real-world conditions
A new three-year pilot project will assess the efficiency of vehicle-integrated PV and verify it with on-the-road monitoring and testing. The goal is to predict the charging infrastructure needed for electric vehicles with PV modules.
Alta Devices launches new solar cell for vehicle integration
U.S. technology company, Alta Devices has launched a new gallium-arsenide based solar cell, which it says improves on the power to weight ratio of its previous cell by 160%. The cell is designed to provide lightweight, high efficiency generation for integration with cars, drones and other vehicles.
Unmanned Mayflower solar trimaran aims to cross Atlantic
The Mayflower Autoship is being developed to sail under solar power from Plymouth, Devon to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 2020 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the pilgrims journey aboard the original Mayflower in 1620. This would be the first Atlantic crossing by an unmanned solar vessel.
