From pv magazine Global.
Thin-film manufacturer Hanergy claims to have produced the “world’s first commercial solar power vehicle” after a month of testing confirmed its Chinese K-Car ran for 20km daily in “normal” sunlight for 30 days without recharging.
The Chinese company issued a press release on Friday explaining its CIGS thin-film modules had been applied to the roof of a Japanese Kei-Car, the smallest category of vehicle permitted to drive on that country’s highways.
The Chinese K-Car developed by Hanergy Mobile Energy Holding Group’s Hanergy Glory Solar Technology subsidiary and Shanghai-based carmaker Joylong Automobile was reportedly tested at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.
Hanergy said the vehicle battery retained more than 60% of charge after the 30 days of testing. The cell maker claimed 60-80% of battery charge remained at the end of each day’s run, equating to a further 30-80km of range for an overall daytime range of 50-100km without charging, thanks to the rooftop cells.
With China’s Hainan province set to halt the sale of petrol and diesel-powered vehicles from March 1, Hanergy says its K-Car offers a road-tested commercial vehicle solution for daytime use and the company is seeking to work with carmakers worldwide to roll out its solar roof solution.
The company in 2017 extended the range of delivery tricycles fitted with a solar roof by 20km, enabling 79 days of use without recharging, according to Friday’s press release.
Hanergy said it has worked on solar roof systems with Audi and supplied “solar mats” to delivery company DHL for use on its U.K. fleet last year, to power operations such as tail lifting and to extend the range of electric vehicles. The company also mooted its work on Solar Runner #1 delivery vehicles for Chinese couriers STO Express and ZJS Express and its joint project with bus manufacturer TAM-Europe on what it described as China’s first airport shuttle bus with a thin-film solar roof.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.