Vehicle-integrated PV

Sono Motors, a solar electric-vehicle manufacturer in Germany, has terminated its Sion passenger car development program, as it has failed to secure enough funding to support pre-series production. It says it will now focus exclusively on retrofitting and integrating its patented solar technology into third-party vehicles.

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.

Bonna Newman, program manager at TNO, speaks to pv magazine about the road forward for vehicle-integrated PV, which will likely remain a niche over the short term, despite recent industrial developments. Several companies have started production, but high-volume output and the potential of other PV technologies beyond crystalline silicon remain key challenges for the future of vehicle-integrated solar.

Developed by the French research institute Liten, the prototype kit consists of a 145 W photovoltaic panel, a magnetic rear panel, and an MPPT charge controller. It also includes a battery and a micro-inverter that can be used to inject the stored energy into the grid when the vehicle is recharged.

Canadian startup Capsolar claims its flexible solar modules can be adapted to any type of low-speed electric vehicle with no extra modification and custom work. The panels have an efficiency of 21.3%.

Volkswagen has started constructing its first battery cell factory in Germany, while Northvolt has raised $1.1 billion for a new battery gigafactory. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, has agreed to send second-life batteries to Canada for use in stationary storage applications.

German VIPV specialist Sono Motors has signed an agreement with French refrigerated vehicle supplier Chereau to develop refrigerated vehicles powered by an integrated solar array. The two companies will build and test a prototype vehicle, and begin to evaluate mass production. Sono estimates that the concept could save around 3,400 liters of fuel and avoid 9 tonnes of CO2 emissions per vehicle, per year.

Commercially printed solar cell technology developed by the University of Newcastle is being put to the test to power an electric vehicle’s 15,097-kilometre journey around the entire coastline of Australia.

The municipal bus fleet in Munich, Germany, will soon be equipped with solar-powered trailer units.

The 205W PV array adds nearly 1,000 miles of range each year and helps prevent battery discharge events that are responsible for four out of every ten roadside emergency breakdowns.