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 espe-
cially 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, contri-
bution to climate change, deterioration of air quality, traf-
c congestions and noise disturbance. It is clear that the
considerable environmental impact makes transport sus-
tainability 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
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 con-
sumption worldwide. The increased consumption of oil and
the need to anticipate for the near future, when oil produc-
tion 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 CO
2
emissions (Giannouli,
0038-092X/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.solener.2011.10.019

Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 2610 997449.

E-mail address: myrtwg@gmail.com (M. Giannouli).
www.elsevier.com/locate/solener
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451
2006). Therefore, the improvement of the energy eciency
of road transport and the consequent reduction of CO
2
emissions is of particular importance. In addition, the
energy consumption from transport at EU level is increas-
ing 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 CO
2
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 Com-
mission 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 pol-
lution (European Commission, 2005b), aim to decrease the
amount of CO
2
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 Commu-
nitys 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 environ-
mentally-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 CO
2
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 produc-
tion of bioethanol can be combined with environmental
protection methods and that its production can be bene-
cial for farmers without negative eects on grain
prices.
For integrating photovoltaic (PV) technologies in trans-
portation 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 environmentally-
friendly 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 e-
cient 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 pro-
totypes 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 addi-
tion, photovoltaic systems are light, noiseless, mainte-
nance-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
442 M. Giannouli, P. Yianoulis / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451
radiation is used to replace, at least partially, the need for
fossil fuel. Up to now, the only reason for not using photo-
voltaics 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 afore-
mentioned 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 pho-
tovoltaic 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 elec-
tric car should be governed by the following requirements:
it should be as ecient as possible, lightweight and reason-
ably priced. We give here a short description of the avail-
able PV technologies in terms of their suitability for
vehicular applications. Further details may be found in
the literature (Kazmerski, 2006; Green, 1982). The photo-
voltaic technologies that are available today include mono-
crystalline silicon solar cells (c-Si), polycrystalline silicon
(poly-Si) and amorphous Si (a-Si). These technologies rep-
resented 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 mate-
rial 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 pro-
duction 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 maxi-
mum current collection. Low-cost processing and manufac-
turing 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 crystal-
line silicon eciency is about 29%. There are already com-
mercially 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 mono-
crystalline silicon using technology that has been commer-
cialized by Suntech Power (Zhao et al., 1998; University of
New South Wales, 2008).
Especially interesting for vehicular applications are uni-
formly 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 low-
est 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 break-
throughs 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 tech-
nique (Prajapati et al., 2009). Also, researchers at the Cal-
ifornia 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 utiliza-
tion of costly pure semiconductor, large-scale manufactur-
ing 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
M. Giannouli, P. Yianoulis / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451 443
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 aim-
ing to bring down the cost of CIGS are also been devel-
oped. 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 sig-
nicantly 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 Cu
2
S/CdS device because of the require-
ments for high power-to-weight ratios. Commercially avail-
able CdS/CdTe PV yield an eciency of about 12%, while
the laboratory eciency is 16.5% (Wu et al., 2001). Produc-
tion 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 con-
sidered 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 avail-
ability and environmental impact. The use of polycrystal-
line 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 devel-
opment 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 mod-
ules are slightly cheaper than monocrystalline Si modules,
with prices starting at 1.74 $/W (Solarbuzz, 2010).
For vehicular applications, the thin-lm amorphous sil-
icon could be potentially ideal. It is generally a low-cost
technology with the only drawbacks that it presents stabil-
ity problems and low eciency. On the other hand, its tem-
perature 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 sil-
icon 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 tem-
peratures, 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 tech-
nology 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 atten-
tion over the last years and considerable progress towards
improving their performance has being made. Novel elec-
trolytes 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-sensi-
tized 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 sen-
sitized devices are still not commercially available in large
444 M. Giannouli, P. Yianoulis / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451
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, GaIn-
AsP, 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 elec-
tricity. Some of the solar car teams competing in solar car
races have used such devices (triple junction GaAs). How-
ever, 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). Con-
centrating photovoltaics use a large area of lenses or mir-
rors 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 con-
siderably, 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 Spectro-
lab/Boeing (King et al., 2009). The cell retained an e-
ciency of 39.8% at 940 suns (Green et al., 2010).
However, the installation cost of a multijunction concen-
trating system is still over 3$/W, which is somewhat expen-
sive 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 junc-
tion 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 microcrys-
talline 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 sat-
isfactory eciencies, of the order of 15.524%. The main
drawback with this type of solar cells would be their rela-
tively high weight.
A strong candidate for applications in vehicles is also
the thin lm solar cell technology based on the heterostruc-
ture 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, consider-
ing that it is both inexpensive and light and also that com-
mercially 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 rel-
atively low at the moment, of the order of 10%, but its tem-
perature 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 photo-
voltaic devices require tracing of the currentvoltage (IV)
characteristic under known conditions of irradiance and
temperature. From IV curves the following physical prop-
erties can be derived, as a function of environmental
parameters which are necessary for the module evaluation:
(a) maximum power point,
(b) maximum power,
(c) open circuit voltage,
(d) short circuit current,
(e) ll factor,
(f) eciency.
The quantities and environmental parameters which are
monitored are:
(a) voltage at the terminals of the PV device,
(b) current which ows through a load,
(c) module temperature distribution,
(d) light intensity,
(e) ambient temperature,
(f) wind speed.
M. Giannouli, P. Yianoulis / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451 445
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 log-
gers. 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 m
2
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 follow-
ing 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/m
2
) 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) price,
(ii) eciency,
(iii) lifetime,
(iv) weight per peak watt of electric output.
The main selection criteria for batteries (Xiang et al.,
2009) for this type of application are:
(a) capacity,
(b) price,
(c) durability,
(d) weight per stored unit of electric energy,
(e) safety considerations under the conditions of electric
vehicles use.
In the following, we comment on the available and fore-
seeable 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 batter-
ies 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 graph-
ite (Li
x
C
6
) anode and a layered-oxide (Li
1x
MO
2
) cathode,
where M is a transition metal (cobalt, nickel or manga-
nese). 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 increas-
ing sales of hybrid cars will ultimately result in lower prices
for batteries. Lithium batteries may have a long lifetime
Table 1
Monthly total solar energy (kW h/m
2
) on horizontal surface in Patras, Greece and the electric energy produced by photovoltaic
cells of eciencies 15.5% and 22%.
Month Monthly total solar energy
on horizontal surface (kW h/m
2
)
Electric energy produced
by a PV 15.5% cell (kW h/m
2
)
Electric energy produced
by a PV 22% cell (kW h/m
2
)
Jan 64 9.2 13.8
Feb 74 10.7 15.9
Mar 130 19.3 28.2
Apr 162 24.1 34.8
May 202 30.2 43.4
June 216 32.3 46.5
July 225 33.8 48.3
Aug 205 30.4 44.1
Sept 154 22.2 33.2
Oct 110 15.9 23.7
Nov 75 10.9 16.1
Dec 54 7.8 11.6
Total 1671 246.8 359.6
446 M. Giannouli, P. Yianoulis / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451
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 lith-
ium 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 bet-
ter cathode materials to be able to accept and release lith-
ium ions for many recharging cycles. Promising materials
include transition metal oxides based on the NaFeO
2
, spi-
nel 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 prop-
erties of the cathode material are also important. Nano-
structured electrodes with high surface and interfacial
areas are used to improve performance (Fergus, 2010a).
Lithium ion batteries use organic solvents as electro-
lytes, which have low electrical resistance. Solid electro-
lytes, including polymers and inorganic compounds, are
used for solid-state batteries, with advantages in miniatur-
ization 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) applica-
tions. 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 electro-
lytes 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 labora-
tory 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. 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 poly-
mer cells, which are currently used in almost all experimen-
tal 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 (bat-
tery) 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
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.
M. Giannouli, P. Yianoulis / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451 447
meteorological data at the place of utilization as well as the
frequency of use of the vehicle. This must also involve eco-
nomic 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 per-
centage 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 elec-
tric 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/m
2
, or 16.48 MJ/m
2
. For December we have
the minimum average daily solar energy on a horizontal
surface for this location, which is 1.8 kW h/m
2
or
6.48 MJ/m
2
. 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/m
2
or 26.13 MJ/m
2
. A
solar panel of surface area equal to 1.2 m
2
can be tted eas-
ily to the roof of the Toyota Prius, which would provide an
additional daily amount of energy equal to 1.128 MJ/m
2
of
electric energy in December and 4.716 MJ/m
2
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/m
2
of electric energy daily in the month of
December and 6.732 MJ/m
2
in July. The average yearly
value for the same quantity is estimated to be 2.808 MJ/
m
2
with the 15.5% PV cells and 4.26 MJ/m
2
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 m
2
, 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 m
2
in July and June. The 2.6 MJ active battery storage capac-
ity is easily taken up by the 4.716 MJ/m
2
available from
solar energy conversion. Additional battery capacity is rec-
ommended, 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 inter-
vals 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 m
2
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 temper-
ature 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 stor-
age 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 m
2
that is available, although there are also ways to
utilize other surfaces. We then derive the peak energy pro-
duced for a maximum solar input of 1000 W/m
2
. The costs
of the PV panels were also calculated for various cell tech-
nologies 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 cat-
egory 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
448 M. Giannouli, P. Yianoulis / Solar Energy 86 (2012) 441451
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 aux-
iliary 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 monocrystal-
line silicon cells as the most cost-eective solar cell type for
vehicular applications. The various types of monocrystal-
line 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 m
2
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 fac-
tors 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 con-
sumer 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 pro-
duction 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 bat-
tery charged even when the vehicle is parked for a long
time. The air-conditioning system of the car could be pow-
ered 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.
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