[Graeme]

They're suggesting that solar panels will be able to recharge EV batteries within a decade. Let's see.

[Graeme]

British Ambulances Get Solar Power

Idling engines are the bane of fuel economy, and while many cities have banned regular people from leaving their engines running, some vehicles need the motor to be on at all times. Police cruisers, semi-trucks, and ambulances all carry so much extra equipment that the on-board batteries would drain in no time if the motor were shut off. There are now thankfully other, greener options though.

The Telegraph reports that the Yorkshire Ambulance Service in England was granted about $260,000 to equip 175 of its ambulances with rooftop solar panels that allow the engine to be turned off while the ambulances are stopped. The system is estimated to save 720 kg of CO2 emissions annually per vehicle, and will also mean paramedics aren’t inhaling cancer-causing diesel fumes while waiting for the next emergency to respond to. If successful, the program could extend to other ambulance companies across the region.

Anti-idling systems are being tried in a wide variety of medium and heavy-duty truck platforms as a way to reduce fuel consumption when the vehicle isn’t moving. Ambulances carry a variety of energy-intensive equipment that needs to be always on and ready to go (for instance a heart defibrillator), and while the Telegraph piece doesn’t mention it, a larger on-board battery is likely a part of the system as well.

This pilot program is part of a $8 million Clean Vehicle Technology initiative with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of many vehicle intensive services, like taxi cabs, ambulances, and police fleets. The British Transportation Ministry recently agreed to a massive greening of the government vehicle fleets to plug-in vehicles. That could see the Tesla Model S serving as a livery vehicle for heads of state.

gas2

[Graeme]

Stella Makes Her US Debut

You may remember a lovely “family-sized” solar-powered electric car named Stella. She raced in last year’s World Solar Challenge and won in the Michelin Cruiser Class. Reportedly, the Eindhoven crew behind the solar-powered car is looking to commercialize it within 5–10 years. Perhaps the US trip is aimed at connecting with potential investors.

Below are a bunch of photos of Stella at the UCLA National Drive Electric Event. Following the pictures is a lot more info on Stella. Thanks to Zan Dubin Scott of Plug In America for passing along the pictures! And thanks to PlugShare for initially taking and sharing them.

Regarding the UCLA event as a whole, Zan wrote: “We had a great event at UCLA yesterday. Hundreds attended, despite a heat wave in Los Angeles. We gave some 150 test drives in a dozen different EVs.”

cleantechnica

[ennui2]

The real approach to powering EVs is what Tesla is doing with supercharger networks. Decouple energy production from energy use in the car. Do not try to collect energy with panels on the car because it just adds weight and makes it hard for the car to be properly aerodynamic. While it's true that cars sit idle most of the day, so do solar panels in a solar plant. So you set up your supercharger network which we all know will (at first) be powered mostly with fossil fuels, and try to clean up utility-grade power generation.

Those who are rich enough can afford powering their EVs off roortop solar, but doing that requires robbing Peter to pay Paul. Most do not have the rooftop area to power an EV AND their household electricity use at once. You'd need a much larger array.

[Graeme]

“Solar panels on the car mean you don’t have to plug it in to charge it. It has a 500-mile range, speeds up to 75-mph and a 15-kWh lithion-ion battery. The solar array is 1.5 kW, about the size for a small home.

The average person in Holland drives 37km or 25 miles per day. Stella can go 70km per day, roughly twice what’s needed.

[Graeme]

It was created by Dutch students from Eindhoven University of Technology, and the group of 20 techies are touring the West Coast to wow Americans and demonstrate that the futuresque-looking vehicle is actually a thing of the present.

“We’re just here to show the car and to inspire people,” said Lex Hoefsloot, a representative of Solar Team Eindhoven. “It’s possible to make a [solar-powered family] car today. It’s not a future thing.”

independent

[Graeme]

This tech has a bright future for other applications but at the moment it is being used in a car!

Solar Thermophotovoltaics — Getting To 80% Efficiency

I think we are actually fortunate to have witnessed solar photovoltaic go commercial within our lifetime. With the support of governments around the world and citizens chipping in resources, there is not much doubt that solar is going to be a huge part of our future. But PV as we know it may not last throughout — it has an inherent problem. You see, PV can only convert a small portion of the energy spectrum of sunlight to electricity.

So, What Exactly is Solar Thermophotovoltaics?

To explain in simple terms, STPV has two main elements — an absorber-emitter and a PV cell. The absorber part of the absorber-emitter absorbs solar energy from a concentrated field of reflectors. In doing so, it reaches a high temperature — in the order of 1000-1200°C. The heat collected at this high temperature is used by the emitter to produce photons which are then used by the PV cell to produce electricity.


Most interestingly, in the real world, they have been used in a car! Viking 29 is a two-seat sports car designed and built by the Vehicle Research Institute. It is powered by thermophotovoltaics using CNG. This brings us to the possibility of hybridization of thermophotovoltaic systems. The same “generator” can be powered using fossil fuel or solar energy as the condition might be. But why bother, the future is solar, right?

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

Solar Powered Family Car Generates More Energy Than It Uses

Solar powered vehicles, whether we’re talking about cars or airplanes, usually share the characteristic of perpetually almost falling apart. What I mean is, solar power is so close to not being usable that vehicles must be as light as possible, or they will not fly (or drive). Technology is improving, though, and it’s at the point where a team from the Eindhoven University of Technology has been able to create a solar powered car that manages to seat four while generating more energy over the course of the year than it uses to drive.

“Stella Lux” is an upgrade of Solar Team Eindhoven’s “Stella” solar powered family car, originally developed in 2013. Stella Lux is made primarily of carbon fiber and aluminum for a total weight of just 375 kg, and features a tunnel that runs through the bottom center of the car to improve aerodynamic efficiency. On the roof is a 5.8 square meter array of solar panels to feed the car and charge 15 kWh of onboard batteries, giving the car a fully charged range of about 1,100 km where it’s sunny (like in Australia) and 1,000 km where it’s not (the Netherlands). This range almost certainly goes down if you’re carting around three American-sized passengers, or if you push the car to its top speed of 125 km/h.

spectrum