Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2025
14:57
Structural Design and Manufacturing of a Cruiser Class Solar Vehicle
Published on: January 30, 2019
13.8K
The parking dilemma for solar-powered vehicles
Guilherme Gaspar1, Ivo Costa1, Miguel Centeno Brito1
1Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, Instituto Dom Luiz, Lisboa, Portugal.
Heliyon
|March 5, 2024
Summary
Parking a solar electric car in the sun can increase driving range, but also raises cabin temperature, increasing air conditioning load. For solar electric vehicles with over 0.8 kWp PV capacity, sun parking always benefits driving range.
Area of Science:
- Automotive Engineering
- Renewable Energy Systems
- Thermal Management
Background:
- Solar electric vehicles (SEVs) offer extended range through on-board photovoltaic (PV) charging.
- Increased cabin temperatures from sun exposure necessitate air conditioning, potentially offsetting PV charging gains.
- The
- parking dilemma
- questions the net benefit of sun parking for SEVs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the thermal performance of a passenger car parked in the sun.
- To quantify the impact of solar charging and cabin heating on SEV driving range.
- To determine the critical PV capacity and parking duration for net positive range extension.
Main Methods:
- Characterization of passenger car thermal properties under typical summer conditions.
- Simulation and analysis of solar charging and cabin thermal load.
- Evaluation of SEV range based on PV capacity and parking duration.
Main Results:
- Effective solar charging is critically dependent on installed PV capacity.
- A 0.5 kWp PV system requires approximately 2 hours of parking to achieve net positive charging.
- SEVs with over 0.8 kWp PV capacity consistently show a positive impact on driving range when parked in the sun.
Conclusions:
- Sun parking can enhance SEV driving range, contingent on PV system size and parking duration.
- Optimizing PV capacity is crucial to overcome the negative impact of cabin heating on range.
- SEVs with sufficiently high PV capacity can leverage sun parking for guaranteed range benefits.
Related Concept Videos
01:11P-N junction
531
A p-n junction is formed when p-type and n-type semiconductor materials are joined together. At the interface of the p-n junction, holes from the p-side and electrons from the n-side begin to diffuse into the opposite sides due to the concentration gradient. This diffusion of carriers leads to a region around the junction where there are no free charge carriers, known as the depletion region. The charge density within the depletion region for the n-side and p-side can be described by the...
531
01:41Social Traps
22.3K
Social traps are negative situations where people get caught in a direction or relationship that later proves to be unpleasant, with no easy way to back out of or avoid. The concept was orignally introduced by John Platt who applied psychology to Garrett Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons", where in New England herd owners could let their cattle graze in the common ground. This situation seems like a good idea, but an individual could have an advantage. If they owned...
22.3K
03:12Batteries and Fuel Cells
27.3K
A battery is a galvanic cell that is used as a source of electrical power for specific applications. Modern batteries exist in a multitude of forms to accommodate various applications, from tiny button batteries such as those that power wristwatches to the very large batteries used to supply backup energy to municipal power grids. Some batteries are designed for single-use applications and cannot be recharged (primary cells), while others are based on conveniently reversible cell reactions that...
27.3K