The market for PV systems has been rapidly expanding with significant penetration in grid-connected markets in an increasing number of countries, connected to both the distributed as well as the central transmission network. This strong PV market expansion has been contributing to savings in fossil fuel consumption and mitigating environmental impacts in residential, commercial, industrial and power sectors. In contrast, the PV market in the
transport sector is still small. However, there is a huge potential.
In the transport sector, battery and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are being adopted globally as a solution to mitigate CO 2 emissions. In line with this, vehicle emissions targets have been proposed and adopted by many countries and policy bodies around the world with goals for the adoption and use of electric vehicles in the near future. With widespread electrification of transportation, PV generated electricity and other renewable energy sources are needed to leverage the EV adoption into even more significant CO 2 emissions reductions. The distributed nature of PV electricity generation offers new opportunities for charging battery electric vehicles.
Options for low-carbon charging of electric vehicles include charging from the existing grid network with PV or other sustainable electricity sources, charging from a dedicated charge point with local PV electricity generation, or directly and independently with on-board PV (PV-powered vehicle).
In order to contribute to reducing the CO 2 emissions of the transport sector and to enhance PV market expansions, IEA PVPS Task 17 is aiming to clarify the potential of the utilization of PV in transport and to propose how to proceed towards realising the concepts. Task 17’s scope includes various PV-powered vehicles such as passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles, heavy duty vehicles and other vehicles, as well as PV applications for electric systems and infrastructures, such as charging infrastructure with PV, battery and other power management systems.
Among these options, this report has focused on PV-powered vehicles, with on-board integrated PV systems, that can run anywhere without or with less dependency on grid electricity. These vehicles offer more than just low emissions transport but also options of convenience and autonomy. The market introduction of PV-powered vehicles can be important for the uptake of electric transport and create opportunities for other PV applications in
the transport sector, as well.
This report is the first technical report of Task 17, as an interim report, and presents on the recent trends in PV-powered vehicles including PV technologies, expected benefits of PV-powered vehicles, estimates of solar irradiance on vehicles, and next steps for realising PV-powered vehicles in the market.
