VIPV

A spinoff of Germany’s Fraunhofer Gesellschaft has developed a compact vehicle-integrated PV system integrated with medical support equipment to provide off-grid, off-road mobile healthcare in rural communities. The PV modules with integrated energy management system supply all the electricity required for maintaining a cold chain for vaccines, medicines and samples.

A new report from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) looks at success factors required to take vehicle integrated photovoltaics (VIPV) from niche to mainstream based on a survey of 110 experts in the topic of transport and PV.

The Belgian automotive company said system can integrate either TOPCon, HJT, or xBC solar cells. The VIPV unit features a glass-glass construction and it does not need a roller blind system.

Canadian custom module manufacturer Capsolar developed a vehicle integrated PV system (VIPV) for an electric material towing application, reportedly enabling 30% to 40% range increase per battery charge.

Imec has successfully integrated silicon heterojunction PV cells into curved surfaces, resulting in a 6% efficiency increase compared to passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) half cells. The cells are suitable for applications in vehicle-integrated and building-integrated PV (BIPV).

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.

Researchers in South Korea have developed a process to enable colored and flexible, thin film modules suitable for vehicle and building-integrated PV applications. It is reportedly a low-cost process that does not significantly impact power conversion efficiency.

Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy (ISE) has advanced vehicle-integrated PV (VIPV) technology by installing solar cells directly onto a standard sheet-metal car hood. The researchers placed a 115 W prototype array on the hood of a Volkswagen with a specialized lamination process.

Sono Motors has equipped its first bus with its PV retrofit solution, featuring 16 semi-flexible rooftop solar modules to feed 1.4 kW of output into the vehicle’s battery system.

Toyota says it will combine EneCoat’s perovskite solar cells and its own in-vehicle technologies for solar panels. Enecoat has developed a perovskite module conversion efficiency of 19.4%.