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Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451 www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Study on the incorporation of photovoltaic systems as an auxiliary power source for hybrid and electric vehicles
M. Giannouli , P. Yianoulis
Energy and Environment Laboratory, Physics Department, University of Patras, 26500 Patras, Greece Received 14 January 2010; received in revised form 12 June 2011; accepted 20 October 2011 Available online 11 November 2011 Communicated by: Associate Editor Elias Stefanakos

Abstract We investigate the use of photovoltaic systems as auxiliary power generators in hybrid and electric vehicles. This technology provides an as yet unexploited possibility with the advantages of a new power source, which is light, noiseless, maintenance-free and continuously working. A notable reduction of air emissions can be achieved through a synergy of various technological breakthroughs, such as the method we present of introducing photovoltaic arrays and additional electrochemical energy storage capacity in vehicles. Solar cars are also considered as a case study in order to demonstrate the use of solar panels in electric cars. However, solar cars cannot be used extensively in practice, while hybrid and electric cars have already been used for many years and their market share is increasing. In order to reduce further the fuel consumption and emissions from hybrid vehicles we propose the use of solar panels and additional battery capacity. Finally, we examine if the reduction in the fuel consumption and air emissions from the use of solar panels compensates for the additional cost involved. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Solar energy; Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs); Environmental protection

1. Introduction Within the past few decades, global transport and especially road transport rates have been increasing alarmingly. This increase has resulted to a rise in energy demand and has also intensied a number of environmental and social problems, such as increased soil and air pollution, contribution to climate change, deterioration of air quality, trafc congestions and noise disturbance. It is clear that the considerable environmental impact makes transport sustainability a very complex issue. The road transport sector in particular is one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters and energy consumers. Due to the imminent fuel shortage and the subsequent increase in fuel prices, there has been a notable market shift during the past few years towards
Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 2610 997449.

more energy-ecient means of transport (Giannouli et al., 2006). As a result, there has been considerable improvement on the eciency of conventional vehicles, as well as the introduction of low-emission hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. However, these breakthroughs will not be sucient to curtail the increasing rates of fuel consumption worldwide. The increased consumption of oil and the need to anticipate for the near future, when oil production reaches the maximum levels and starts declining, direct us to alternative solutions as regards the use of energy sources for transportation (Giannouli and Yianoulis, 2007). 1.1. Energy eciency of vehicles in Europe In the European Union (EU), road transport currently accounts for approximately one-quarter of the total nal energy consumption and CO2 emissions (Giannouli,

E-mail address: myrtwg@gmail.com (M. Giannouli). 0038-092X/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2011.10.019

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2006). Therefore, the improvement of the energy eciency of road transport and the consequent reduction of CO2 emissions is of particular importance. In addition, the energy consumption from transport at EU level is increasing and this trend is expected to continue in the future. For that reason, several EU initiatives aim to decrease the amount of air emissions produced from road transport and at the same time to increase the energy eciency of road vehicles. The European Commission (EC) aims to improve energy eciency and reduce CO2 emissions from road transport. This includes improving the energy eciency of road transport vehicles, by promoting alternative fuels and more ecient engine technologies. In order to promote the use of renewable energy sources, the European Commission has adopted the Directive 2009/28/EC (European Commission, 2009a), which aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources in energy consumption to 20% and the share of renewable fuels in transport to 10% by 2020. The Directive 2009/28/EC was recently amended by the Directive 2009/30/EC (European Commission, 2009b) in order to set specic limits for greenhouse gas emissions from fuels. In addition, several EU initiatives, such as the European Climate Change Programme (European Commission, 2000), the Sustainable Development Strategy (European Commission, 2005a) and the Thematic Strategy on air pollution (European Commission, 2005b), aim to decrease the amount of CO2 emissions produced from road transport, increase the energy eciency of road vehicles and promote renewable energy sources. Finally, Intelligent Energy for Europe (European Union, 2009) is the European Communitys support programme for non-technological actions in the eld of energy. The aforementioned EU initiatives, as well as similar incentives in many countries throughout the world, emphasize the need for exploiting more environmentally-friendly and energy-ecient means of transport (European Environmental Agency, 2005; European Commision, 2003). 1.2. Technological options for the future of road vehicles There are several options that can change the trend of fuel consumption from fossil sources in the future. One of these is the use of biofuels (biodiesel and bioethanol) that can play an important role in ameliorating transport-related CO2 emissions. However, there exists already a considerable opposition on biofuel use based on the notion that their production is strongly aecting food availability and prices. Biofuels though, can also be produced without raising any objections, from agricultural by-products, such as straw. Moreover, we have shown (Koutinas et al., 1981a,b) that the production of bioethanol can be combined with environmental protection methods and that its production can be benecial for farmers without negative eects on grain prices.

For integrating photovoltaic (PV) technologies in transportation vehicles, emphasis is placed on those vehicles that have electric motors, such as vehicles equipped with fuel cells. Factors that have so far prevented the introduction of this technology include the high capital cost of fuel cells in connection with fuel availability (distribution) and fuel cost. However, hydrogen availability is expected to increase in the future through the use of renewable energy sources for hydrogen production, thereby reducing its price. As the tendency in the future will be towards more energy-ecient and at the same time environmentallyfriendly transportation, PV could be integrated in road transport vehicles, as well as in o-road vehicles (trains, trams, ships, etc.). This will result to reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions produced by transport. The implementation of photovoltaic technology on a very ecient type of vehicle, such as hybrid vehicles, will lower the energy consumption of the vehicle. Electric vehicles in particular, have been gaining considerable attention lately and their market share is increasing continuously. Motor trends car of the year award for 2011 has been awarded to the electric vehicle Chevrolet Volt (Motor Trend, 2011), while in a similar competition in Europe, the title was also won by an electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf (Car of the year, 2011). Several countries are oering incentives for buying electric vehicles thus reducing the cost of the vehicle for the consumer, while Germany aims to increase its electric vehicle production by approximately 1 million vehicles by 2020 (Denver Solar, 2011; Worldwatch, 2011). The overall power obtained from the use of auxiliary PV systems in cars may not be great; however, it should be considered that these cells continue to provide power to the battery pack even when the vehicle is not in motion. This will have favorable eects, especially for the overall fuel eciency in urban driving. From the above, it is apparent that the incorporation of PV systems in vehicles may increase their energy eciency while reducing their environmental impact. However, few research eorts have focused on this area. Previous research eorts have led to the development of mechanical and electrical controls suitable for hybrid vehicles (Brahma et al., 2000; Arsie et al., 2004) and also to the design of prototypes of solar hybrid cars (Fujinaka, 1992; Sasaki et al., 1997). Other studies in the area have focused on testing the operation of these vehicles under various conditions in order to optimize their performance (Arsie et al., 2006). 2. Use of solar cells in vehicles The incorporation of photovoltaic systems on the outer surfaces of electric, plug-in hybrids and hybrid vehicles helps reduce the overall amount of fuel consumed. In addition, photovoltaic systems are light, noiseless, maintenance-free and work continuously even when the vehicle is not in motion. They can be applied on a large area as the main power module, or on a smaller one as an auxiliary system. This way, the natural energy ow provided by solar

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radiation is used to replace, at least partially, the need for fossil fuel. Up to now, the only reason for not using photovoltaics was their high cost. However, their price has decreased considerably over the past decade and is expected to decrease even further in the future. The rapid increase in the cost of fossil fuels combined with the aforementioned reduction in the price of photovoltaics will make their use cost-eective in the near future. The incorporation of PV panels in vehicles has already been realized in solar cars. Solar cars are basically electric cars, in which electricity is provided from the conversion of solar radiation to electric energy through the use of photovoltaic conversion panels. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) on the other hand, use conventional fuel as their source of energy. In hybrid electric vehicles, electrical energy is temporarily stored in the electrochemical storage system and used by the electric motor. This electrical energy is produced by a conventional motor and in part by recovery of kinetic energy when the brakes are used when driving downhill or when stopping. The installation of PV generators in electric or hybrid vehicles can help to conserve energy in the form of fuel in the case of HEV and fuel cell vehicles, or in the form of electrical energy originating from conventional (mostly) power generating plants in the case of electric cars. 2.1. Overview of PV technologies for vehicular applications The selection of the PV generator for the hybrid or electric car should be governed by the following requirements: it should be as ecient as possible, lightweight and reasonably priced. We give here a short description of the available PV technologies in terms of their suitability for vehicular applications. Further details may be found in the literature (Kazmerski, 2006; Green, 1982). The photovoltaic technologies that are available today include monocrystalline silicon solar cells (c-Si), polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) and amorphous Si (a-Si). These technologies represented about 95% of all terrestrial PV cells and modules used worldwide (Yianoulis and Giannouli, 2003) until recently, but the trend is now towards thin lm PV. Thinlm PV are developed using materials that absorb the solar radiation strongly so that the devices can be very thin (of the order of 10 lm or less instead of about 300 lm of monocrystalline silicon) and a smaller amount of material is needed. As a consequence, these cells can be more economical and less heavy. 2.1.1. Crystalline silicon There has been signicant progress up to now in the production of PV cells using crystalline silicon (c-Si). Future work is directed towards capturing as much incident solar energy as possible, maximizing electronhole generation, and increasing the lifetime of the charge carriers for maximum current collection. Low-cost processing and manufacturing for high-eciency technologies is a major eort

aimed at improving and simplifying all aspects of cell and module production. Under standard conditions, the upper limit for crystalline silicon eciency is about 29%. There are already commercially available cells with eciencies in excess of 24%. These devices can maintain their high power outputs for about 25 years. The highest eciencies have been achieved using monocrystalline cells. The University of New South Wales has reported 25% laboratory eciency on monocrystalline silicon using technology that has been commercialized by Suntech Power (Zhao et al., 1998; University of New South Wales, 2008). Especially interesting for vehicular applications are uniformly black modules with high cell packing density, which are currently available commercially. However, the high cost of c-Si panels, which originates primarily from the cost of high-purity Si material, somewhat inhibits their use in private transport vehicles. Currently, production costs of c-Si panels average at 2.04 $/W (Kho, 2009), while the lowest retail price for a monocrystalline silicon module is 2.14 $/W (Solarbuzz, 2010). In spite of this, the advanced forms of crystalline silicon cells remain very good candidates for use in electric and HEV vehicles. Moreover, recent breakthroughs in photovoltaic technology are expected to lead to lower production costs for silicon solar cells in the future, while maintaining high conversion eciencies. Researchers at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC) have achieved 18% conversion eciency for solar cells made of low-cost silicon wafers, which were produced by BP Solar using a seeded directional solidication technique (Prajapati et al., 2009). Also, researchers at the California Institute of Technology have reported a method for producing exible solar cells with silicon wires that use 100 times less silicon than conventional solar cells (Kelzenberg et al., 2010). The method used for manufacturing these cells is based on reconguring the geometry of the material from a at wafer to arrays of micron-sized silicon rods aligned vertically on the cell. This technique could be potentially used in the future to produce light and exible solar cells at low costs, which would be ideal for vehicular applications. 2.1.2. Thin lm solar cells Research eorts have also concentrated on thin lm solar cells. The market share of thin lm PV at the moment is approximately 15% but it is rapidly increasing, while crystalline silicon covers the other 85%. The arguments favouring thin-lm PV have been based on better utilization of costly pure semiconductor, large-scale manufacturing advantages, and lower energy requirements for their production. They also have the advantage of being very light, which is very important for applications on vehicles and, depending on the material used, they may be also less expensive. The main thin lm technologies currently on the market are based on the heterostructure CdS/CdTe. The next best known are based on Cu(In, Ga) (Se, S)2 also known as CIGS or CIS, on GaInP/GaInAs, or on other

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III/V compounds. Many of these technologies can give low-cost and lightweight PV cells suitable for vehicular applications (Patrikios and Yianoulis, 1993). Recently, an eciency of 20.1% for CIGS was recorded at Germanys Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW). This eciency is marginally higher than the previous record of 19.9%, which was held by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for many years. The record-breaking CIGS cell was produced in a lab using a modied co-evaporation process. Commercially available CIGS modules yield eciencies of the order of 1012%, but this new CIGS technology could boost eciency to 15% for commercial modules (Electroiq, 2010). New processes aiming to bring down the cost of CIGS are also been developed. Researchers from Oregon State University and Korea recently reported an important breakthrough in the use of continuous ow microreactors to produce thin lm absorbers for solar cells. This new technology can signicantly reduce the cost of solar energy devices and reduce material waste (Park et al., 2010). CdS/CdTe was also of interest to earlier space PV work along with the Cu2S/CdS device because of the requirements for high power-to-weight ratios. Commercially available CdS/CdTe PV yield an eciency of about 12%, while the laboratory eciency is 16.5% (Wu et al., 2001). Production costs of CdTe modules have dropped as low as 0.93 $/ W (Kho, 2009), while the lowest price for a 60 W thin lm module currently available on the market is 0.98 $/W (Solarbuzz, 2010). Thin lm solar cells are therefore considered suitable for use on electric and HEV since they combine reasonable price and relatively light weight with satisfactory solar energy conversion eciency. 2.1.3. Other thin-lm technologies (silicon) These technologies combine the advantages of the wafer crystalline Si technology with improvements over current thin-lm manufacturing approaches. They oer advantages over some of the other thin lms, regarding material availability and environmental impact. The use of polycrystalline Si, which is an indirect bandgap semiconductor, has yielded relatively low eciencies in the past. These solar cells were usually prepared by vacuum deposition and chemical vapor deposition on substrates such as glass and graphite. Currently, eorts are directed towards the development of advanced solar cells from epitaxial layers of Si on Si and there has also been progress in polycrystalline thin-lm Si on foreign substrates. Polycrystalline Si modules are slightly cheaper than monocrystalline Si modules, with prices starting at 1.74 $/W (Solarbuzz, 2010). For vehicular applications, the thin-lm amorphous silicon could be potentially ideal. It is generally a low-cost technology with the only drawbacks that it presents stability problems and low eciency. On the other hand, its temperature performance is better than the crystalline silicon technologies. The eciency of polycrystalline cells drops by 0.150.2% per C, while the eciency of crystalline silicon cells decreases by 0.350.4% per C. This is an impor-

tant advantage for transport-related applications. A car parked under the sun can have high external surface temperatures, in excess of 70 C, especially at the PV dark surface. Another promising type of PV is c-Si with thickness lower than 100 lm. As the cost of puried Si represents approximately 40% of the cost of a PV module, these ultra-thin cells may become in the future a solution to the high cost of Si PVs. At the moment, there are several drawbacks associated with the production and use of ultra-thin PVs that need to be overcome before this technology becomes cost-eective. For example, low-cost assembly processes need to be developed for these cells since the conventional assembly processes for PV modules are likely to cause micro-cracks on the surface of these ultra-thin cells. Therefore, the main challenge lies in the production and installation of high-eciency cells with low cost. The main advantages of ultra-thin cells, especially for vehicular applications, are their low weight and their improved exibility. Currently, cells of thickness below 100 lm with approximately 20% eciency are available from several manufacturers, such as Suniva and Sanyo (Skoumanich, 2009). 2.1.4. Organic photovoltaics Interest on organic semiconductors has been rather on scientic research than on practical applications for many years. There are numerous potential applications for organic solar cells and especially for cheap and exible PV surfaces. For the car industry, interest exists for thin organic lms that could even cover window surfaces as they can be made semi-transparent. We have examined the synthesis, optical and morphological characterization of various polymers and copolymers for PV cells (Chochos et al., 2004; Economopoulos et al., 2004). The eciency of these devices is still below 5% and they are not commercially available. Dye sensitized solar cells, with highest eciencies approximately 11%, (Gao et al., 2008) have gained attention over the last years and considerable progress towards improving their performance has being made. Novel electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells are being developed, which enhance cell eciency and stability (Wang et al., 2010; Giannouli et al., 2010). Recent studies demonstrated the ability to replace the platinum in the photocathode by cobalt sulde, which is more ecient and stable (Wang et al., 2009), while highly-ecient photocathodes have been developed for tandem dye-sensitized solar cells (Nattestad et al., 2010). Scientists have also achieved a record light conversion eciency of 8.2% in solvent-free dye-sensitized solar cells (Bai et al., 2008). The development of dye-sensitized solar cells of appreciable eciency without the use of solvents will enable in the future the construction of large scale, inexpensive, exible solar cells that are stable over long periods of light and heat exposure. However, dye sensitized devices are still not commercially available in large

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volumes. There are several issues that need to be addressed before these devices can be used extensively, such as their relatively low long-term stability. 2.1.5. Very high-eciency technologies Other semiconductors, such as GaAs, GaAlAs, GaInAsP, InSb, and InP have been receiving attention in PV devices. They have high cost (because of Ga which is a rather rare element) but they have exceptional performance and convert more than 30% of the solar radiation into electricity. Some of the solar car teams competing in solar car races have used such devices (triple junction GaAs). However, they are very expensive and would raise the cost of a vehicle if used on commercial HEV and electric vehicles. The performance of these devices can be increased even further by using concentrating photovoltaics (CPV). Concentrating photovoltaics use a large area of lenses or mirrors to focus sunlight by 500 or even 1000 times on a small area of photovoltaic cells (Nishioka et al., 2006). The concentration decreases the required cell area and increases cell eciency. As a result, the cost is reduced considerably, since a smaller area needs to be covered with PV devices. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently reported an eciency of 41.6% at 364 suns for a GaInP/GaInAs/Ge cell produced by Spectrolab/Boeing (King et al., 2009). The cell retained an eciency of 39.8% at 940 suns (Green et al., 2010). However, the installation cost of a multijunction concentrating system is still over 3$/W, which is somewhat expensive for vehicular applications. 2.1.6. Other advanced technologies Multi-junction solar cells with 4 or 5 junctions may be available in the near future. The use of more than one junction increases the nal eciency of the cell. Other advanced technologies (3rd generation approaches), may also give high eciencies but they are far from being practical yet. Thin-lm polycrystalline PV are currently being developed with expected eciency in the range of 20 25%. Polycrystalline thin-lm tandem structures and high-performance polycrystalline mechanically stacked tandems are also possible. Nanocrystalline and microcrystalline silicon-lms are gaining attention as representing a state of crystallization of a-Si:H lms (Kaneka, 2009). We expect this type of cell, in a further developed form, to be of considerable interest to the automotive industry in the near future. 2.2. Suitability of various PV technologies for use in electric and HEV vehicles The selection of appropriate solar cells is based mainly on solar cell eciency, cost and weight. Since the cost may well be the deciding factor for choosing a particular solar cell type, it may be more advantageous not to use the more expensive PV that yield the highest conversion eciencies, but rather to opt for the more cost-eective

types. The various types of monocrystalline silicon solar cells are reasonably-priced and at the same time, yield satisfactory eciencies, of the order of 15.524%. The main drawback with this type of solar cells would be their relatively high weight. A strong candidate for applications in vehicles is also the thin lm solar cell technology based on the heterostructure CdS/CdTe and as a second choice on Cu(In, Ga) (Se, S)2. The heterostructure CdS/CdTe is probably the most cost-eective module for HEVs and electric cars, considering that it is both inexpensive and light and also that commercially available products currently yield 12% eciency. Finally, the nanocrystalline or microcrystalline (micromorph) thin lm Si is promising for use in hybrid and electric vehicles in the near future. Its eciency is relatively low at the moment, of the order of 10%, but its temperature performance is good and it tends to improve at higher operating temperatures (above 70 C). This is an important advantage, as for a car parked under the sun we can have high PV surface temperatures, in excess of 70 C. In the future, even the car glass surfaces may be made semitransparent to collect solar energy and convert it to electric energy for the needs of the car. In this way, the entire outer surface of the car may eectively become a solar energy converter. 3. Measurement of available PV power A method for outdoors testing of solar panels is described, to determine their eciency under variable meteorological conditions, tilt angle to the horizontal plane and angle of incidence. This allows the calculation of the annual amount of fuel saved when these panels are installed in vehicles. Performance measurements of photovoltaic devices require tracing of the currentvoltage (IV) characteristic under known conditions of irradiance and temperature. From IV curves the following physical properties can be derived, as a function of environmental parameters which are necessary for the module evaluation: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) maximum power point, maximum power, open circuit voltage, short circuit current, ll factor, eciency.

The quantities and environmental parameters which are monitored are: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) voltage at the terminals of the PV device, current which ows through a load, module temperature distribution, light intensity, ambient temperature, wind speed.

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M. Giannouli, P. Yianoulis / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451 Table 1 Monthly total solar energy (kW h/m2) on horizontal surface in Patras, Greece and the electric energy produced by photovoltaic cells of eciencies 15.5% and 22%. Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Total Monthly total solar energy on horizontal surface (kW h/m2) 64 74 130 162 202 216 225 205 154 110 75 54 1671 Electric energy produced by a PV 15.5% cell (kW h/m2) 9.2 10.7 19.3 24.1 30.2 32.3 33.8 30.4 22.2 15.9 10.9 7.8 246.8 Electric energy produced by a PV 22% cell (kW h/m2) 13.8 15.9 28.2 34.8 43.4 46.5 48.3 44.1 33.2 23.7 16.1 11.6 359.6

The experimental set up used consists of a test rig for mounting the PV modules, pyranometer coplanar with the module, an anemometer, IV tracers, data logger and reference cells. The PV panel is connected to an IV tracer circuit which operates as a variable electronic load. The current and voltage across the terminals of the PV are recorded by Campbell Scientic CR10X or CR10 data loggers. T-type thermocouples are used for measuring the ambient temperature and the temperatures on the front and back surfaces of the panel. The wind speed is measured using a Vector Instruments R30 anemometer. In Table 1 we give the overall results for the electrical energy produced by the 1 m2 solar PV panel of crystalline Si with eciencies 15.5% (manufactured by Isofoton) and 22% (SunPower corporation) at the site of our Laboratory in Greece. Based on these results we calculate in the following section the electric energy output of the panels for a specic surface area in the case of a model vehicle. Other places of the world and cities can be easily considered, in an approximate way, by comparing directly the total monthly solar energy (kW h/m2) on a horizontal surface from recorded meteorological data. 4. The PV array and batteries The suitability of PV panels and batteries for vehicular applications is assessed according to certain criteria. In the case of PV panels, the main selection criteria are the following: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) price, eciency, lifetime, weight per peak watt of electric output.

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

capacity, price, durability, weight per stored unit of electric energy, safety considerations under the conditions of electric vehicles use.

The main selection criteria for batteries (Xiang et al., 2009) for this type of application are:

In the following, we comment on the available and foreseeable technologies with respect to the above criteria. Electrochemical cells (rechargeable batteries) of various kinds are used for the storage of electric energy in hybrid and electric cars. The related technologies have advanced considerably during the recent years permitting many chargerecharge cycles with high eciency. Common types of modern rechargeable batteries for our purpose are: nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion (Li-ion), and lithium ion polymer (Li-ion polymer). Older types as: lead acid and nickel cadmium (NiCd) are not used, as they are heavy, and present environmental problems respectively. NiMH batteries are used to power hybrid vehicles, whereas the development of improved Lithium-ion batteries is critical for advancements in a variety of applications as in high-end electronics, power tools and are proposed for Hybrid and Electric-vehicles (Armand and Tarascon, 2008). The lithium-ion battery, was introduced by Sony, and operates by the exchange of the Li+ ion between the graphite (LixC6) anode and a layered-oxide (Li1xMO2) cathode, where M is a transition metal (cobalt, nickel or manganese). The most common anode materials are carbon-based compounds and lithium-containing alloys. The operating voltage is 3.8 V and the energy density 180250 W h/kg (or 300360 W h/l), which is at least ve times higher than that in leadacid batteries (Armand and Tarascon, 2008). Storage of electrical power in batteries is expensive (price per energy is $0.350.6/W h). However, the increasing sales of hybrid cars will ultimately result in lower prices for batteries. Lithium batteries may have a long lifetime

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with almost no sensitivity to cycles, while future cost levels are predicted that will be four times less than in the past. (Kalhammer et al., 2007). For lithium batteries, there are many choices, like lithium cobalt oxide or lithium iron phosphate, and because there is an enormous progress in this type of batteries many manufacturers already report more than 1000 cycles (Garche, 2009). Eorts continue for improving the performance of Li ion and Li polymer batteries with the development of better cathode materials to be able to accept and release lithium ions for many recharging cycles. Promising materials include transition metal oxides based on the NaFeO2, spinel and olivine structures. Ongoing research aims to reduce cost and extend eective lifetime. The exchange of lithium ions at the electrodeelectrolyte interface, aects critically cathode performance. The electrode microstructure and morphology, as well as the inherent electrochemical properties of the cathode material are also important. Nanostructured electrodes with high surface and interfacial areas are used to improve performance (Fergus, 2010a). Lithium ion batteries use organic solvents as electrolytes, which have low electrical resistance. Solid electrolytes, including polymers and inorganic compounds, are used for solid-state batteries, with advantages in miniaturization and durability. One challenge is the development of electrode materials with increased energy density, faster discharge kinetics, better stability and the development of safer and more reliable electrolytes to replace the organic carbonate liquid solutions (Fergus, 2010b). Large-sized lithium-ion batteries and battery packs are used for electric vehicles (EV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) applications. However, safety is one of the most important issues for lithium-ion batteries and highly safe electrolyte systems such as nonammable electrolytes and ionic liquid electrolytes are used for this purpose (Jossen et al., 2004; Gibson and Kelly, 2010). 4.1. The case of solar cars The PV array and batteries installed in a solar car should be sucient for the vehicle to rely entirely on solar energy to cover its energy requirements. We have gained considerable experience in using PV arrays on vehicles through our involvement in solar car design. Our laboratory participated in the international race for solar cars, Phaethon 2004, which took place in the framework of the Cultural Olympiad under FIAs Alternative Energies Cup regulations (Panteleon et al., 2005) and has also won the rst place in an international INTEREG solar car design competition in 2008. On the solar car build by our team for Phaethon 2004 we used commercial monocrystalline silicon solar cells of 15.5% eciency. The assembly of the solar panel was done by hand (Fig. 1). Strings of 45 solar cells were connected in series and the strings were placed on the solar car

Fig. 1. The solar car HERMES constructed for Phaethon 2004.

Fig. 2. Solar array layout for the solar cells used in HERMES. The four dierent groups that were connected with dierent MPPTs are shown in dierent shades.

(Fig. 2). In order to have groups of cells under reasonably similar conditions, four maximum power point trackers (MPPTs) were used, taking into account the curvature of the upper body of the car. We have used lithium ion polymer cells, which are currently used in almost all experimental solar cars. The specic energy of this battery was approximately 188 W h kg. After 500 cycles the capacity remains at more than 80% of the initial capacity. Some of the more advanced options of PV arrays that we have already mentioned (triple junction cells or other options of up to 28% eciency) can also be used in solar cars, as the competitive nature of solar car races justies the use of expensive cells and storage. 4.2. Electric vehicles As mentioned above, the most important factors that need to be taken into account in the selection of the most suitable type of solar cell are the solar cell eciency, weight, lifetime and cost. The choice of the electrochemical energy storage (battery) system is very important for vehicles tted with PV systems. If the storage capacity is small, then the electricity from solar energy cannot be fully utilized. On the other hand, if the storage capacity is oversized then it is very rarely used in full. This means excessive unneeded weight and added cost. It follows that an optimization should be made that takes into account the solar radiation and other

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meteorological data at the place of utilization as well as the frequency of use of the vehicle. This must also involve economic criteria such as the cost of fuel, PVs and batteries. For electric vehicles, sizing is relatively straightforward. In this case, the given battery capacity is used to estimate the PV panel surface area required to provide a specic percentage of the total energy requirements. It is reasonable from an economic point of view to aim for a percentage around 5060% for vehicles used in sunny places and 20 50% for places under less favorable weather conditions. The battery capacity for the small electric vehicles is 10 MJ while for medium sized vehicles it is 20 MJ. 4.3. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) From the HEV models on the market today we chose the Toyota Prius as a model to estimate the amount of electric energy that could be provided to this vehicle by the use of solar panels as an auxiliary power source. This model is equipped with a metal hydride (NiMH) battery of capacity of 6.4 MJ. The weight of the battery is 39.5 kg, and the controls of the car are such that the battery state of charge (SOC) is allowed to vary between 40% and 80% (Kelly et al., 2002; ToyotaPriusBattery, 2011). This gives access to 40% of the battery capacity, which corresponds to an active battery storage capacity of 2.6 MJ. From the values presented in Table 1, we can calculate the average daily solar energy on a horizontal surface for the climatic conditions prevalent in Patras, Greece. This is 4.58 kW h/m2, or 16.48 MJ/m2. For December we have the minimum average daily solar energy on a horizontal surface for this location, which is 1.8 kW h/m2 or 6.48 MJ/m2. For July (and also for June, which is about the same) we have the maximum average daily solar energy on a horizontal surface 7.26 kW h/m2 or 26.13 MJ/m2. A solar panel of surface area equal to 1.2 m2 can be tted easily to the roof of the Toyota Prius, which would provide an additional daily amount of energy equal to 1.128 MJ/m2 of electric energy in December and 4.716 MJ/m2 in July, if we use solar cells with 15.5% eciency. If we use solar cells with 22% eciency, the solar panel would provide 1.668 MJ/m2 of electric energy daily in the month of December and 6.732 MJ/m2 in July. The average yearly value for the same quantity is estimated to be 2.808 MJ/ m2 with the 15.5% PV cells and 4.26 MJ/m2 with the 22% PV cells. These values show that the electric energy storage system of the HEVs is insucient to take full advantage of the PV system, when the car is tted with a solar PV array of area 1.2 m2, even for low eciency cells, during the sunny months. As a criterion for this, we take into account the daily amount of electric energy produced by the 1.2 m2 in July and June. The 2.6 MJ active battery storage capacity is easily taken up by the 4.716 MJ/m2 available from solar energy conversion. Additional battery capacity is recommended, to almost double the capacity used to 11.6 MJ. However, there are cases in which smaller storage capacity may be sucient. This is the case for relatively short driv-

ing cycles of the order of 10 km with sucient time intervals between them. It is then simple to calculate the annual amount of fuel (gasoline) saved in a year under various driving cycles and compare it with the additional cost of PV and storage. For example, if we assume an average annual distance of 15,000 km annually and the case of the 1.2 m2 PV collector with 11.6 MJ total battery storage capacity then we nd an annual saving of approximately 100 l. This result appears rather disappointing from an economic point of view, if converted to currency with the price of gas as it is now in Europe. It shows in general that the expense of the PV panel and added battery cannot be justied entirely and leads to the conclusion that further improvements in PV and battery (electrochemical storage) technology are needed. From the environmental point of view however, the added expense is justied. The PV array on the car will provide several other advantages. For example, it will keep the battery charged even when the vehicle is parked for a long time, whereas the self discharge and other factors (security systems and the rest consumptions) tend to lower battery voltage. Provision can also be made in order to automatically start ventilation above a predened temperature limit keeping the interior at reasonable temperatures. This can save energy by restricting air conditioning use. 4.4. Additional cost for the use of PV in HEV The additional cost of the PV collector and battery storage in the case we have analyzed in the previous section is presented here. The additional recommended storage is (11.66.4) MJ = 5.2 MJ, which corresponds to an added cost of 504 $ for the current price of 0.35 $/W h (Solarbuzz, 2010), although battery prices for mass consumption are expected to be signicantly lower than this value. For the PV collector we start from the standard top area of 1.2 m2 that is available, although there are also ways to utilize other surfaces. We then derive the peak energy produced for a maximum solar input of 1000 W/m2. The costs of the PV panels were also calculated for various cell technologies using the module prices given in Chapter 2. Finally, we derive from our radiation data for Greece (Table 1) an estimate of the total electrical energy produced and stored from solar energy. The PV characteristics of various modules, as well as the peak energy produced and the overall cost for equipping a HEV with PVs and batteries is shown in Table 2. From this table it is apparent that the installation of c-Si modules requires the highest initial investment. The annual electric energy produced from each PV category considered is given in Table 3, based on the solar energy results presented in Table 1. The mixed driving cycle of Prius requires 0.045 l/km or 0.37 MJ/km. Assuming that the price of fuel (in Greece) is 1.8 $/l, the annual savings from using each PV type are presented in Table 3. These values are compared to the overall cost values presented in Table 2 in order to estimate the payback time required

M. Giannouli, P. Yianoulis / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451 Table 2 PV characteristics for various technologies including peak energy produced, installation cost of the PV modules and overall cost (including batteries). Module price ($/Wp) Crystalline Si Polycrystalline Si Thin lm 2.14 1.74 0.93 Eciency (%) 22 15.5 12 Peak energy (Wp) 264 186 144 Cost of PV ($) 565 324 134 Overall cost ($) 1069 828 638

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Table 3 Annual energy produced by the various PV modules, resulting savings and payback period for the initial investment. Annual energy (MJ) Crystalline Si Polycrystalline Si Thin lm 11,660 8220 6360 Annual gasoline savings (l) 142 100 77 Annual savings ($) 256 180 139 Payback period (years) 4.1 4.6 4.6

for the initial investment. From Table 3 it can be observed that although the installation cost of c-Si panels is higher than that of the other technologies, this technology has the most speedy payback time (a little over 4 years). 5. Conclusions We have investigated the use of solar panels as an auxiliary power source in hybrid and electric vehicles. The most important factors that need to be taken into account in the selection of the appropriate solar cells are the solar cell eciency and cost. The price is a very signicant factor and for this reason, we recommend the use of monocrystalline silicon cells as the most cost-eective solar cell type for vehicular applications. The various types of monocrystalline silicon photovoltaics present an economic option, while yielding high energy conversion eciencies, with their most signicant drawback being their high weight. We also propose an upgrade of the battery pack for future hybrid vehicles in order to increase their storage capacity to about 11.61 MJ (from the typical value 6.4 MJ). The PV array for solar radiation conversion to electricity can be about 1.2 m2 for low-eciency cells and smaller for more ecient cells. Lithium polymer batteries are currently the most advanced but they are very expensive. The important factors in battery development will be the cost, safety, and longevity. Equally important is the energy density, leading to an optimized combination between weight, volume and capacity of the battery system. The annual gasoline savings by installing PV panels to an electric vehicle were estimated to be approximately 100 l and the payback period of the initial investment would be a little over 4 years. In strictly nancial terms, the amount of money saved every year may not seem as sucient incentive for this investment. However, the consumer should also consider the environmental benets. The installed photovoltaic panels would provide a constant source of energy for the vehicle, even when it was parked, thus reducing its requirements for fuel consumption.

Reduced fuel consumption in vehicles results to the production of fewer air emissions from road transport and helps improve air quality. The PV array on the car can also provide several other advantages, such as keeping the battery charged even when the vehicle is parked for a long time. The air-conditioning system of the car could be powered by the solar panels and controlled automatically when the vehicle was parked. This function would help control the temperature of the vehicle and reduce the amount of energy required to maintain the temperature in the interior of the vehicle when it is in use. References
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