There’s no questioning the benefit of solar energy. It provides homeowners and businesses with a source of renewable energy that they can control. With that control comes the opportunity to lessen the amount you spend on your energy bill every month. Not only that, but the use of solar energy can even result in tax breaks!
But what does all that have to do with the automotive industry?
Automobile manufacturers have been looking for ways to improve the usability of electric cars for years. Electric cars offer to break the industry’s dependence on fossil fuels, providing consumers with a more energy-efficient mode of transportation and manufacturers with new car models to work with.
Now Hyundai, Toyota, and Lightyear have all announced that they have plans in place to create cars that have solar panels on their roofs. Ideally, these cars will collect sunlight as they drive down the road. That sunlight will then be converted into usable energy. That energy will then be stored in the cars’ EV batteries and used as necessary to prolong a person's car trip.
What do those plans look like, specifically? And when should we expect to see solar-powered cars on the road?
Hyundai’s Initial Announcement
Hyundai burst onto the scene with its solar-panelled plans in autumn 2018. In the time since that announcement and the debut of applicable plans, the manufacturer has produced the first car to operate with a solar-panelled roof. The Sonata Hybrid is only available in Korea, at this point, but it is set to appear on North American motorways in the near future.
Hyundai did not limit its ambitions with the creation of this car. The solar panels attached to the car’s roof are designed to do more than improve the car’s fuel efficiency. These panels should charge 30 to 60 per cent of the applicable car’s battery on a daily basis. Six hours of charge should, ideally, give drivers an extra 1,300 kilometres of travel per year.
While it’s not a massive day-to-day improvement, that growth still indicates that solar-powered cars are making strides towards the future. Hyundai’s deliberate choice not to integrate these panels into luxury cars also suggests that, come their international debut, these solar-powered cars will be accessible to drivers of all stripes.
Toyota following up
Hyundai isn’t alone in their quest to create an affordable solar-powered car. Toyota expressed interest in developing the power cells they used on their electric cars in 2018. Now, the company is testing new iterations of those cells on the Prius PHV. This car is exclusive to Japan, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t operate internationally in the future. As it stands now, the car’s performance has improved by 44.5 km.
The changes to the battery that Toyota made could mesh well with the developments changing Hyundai’s cars. The solar battery film that stretches over the vehicle’s engine measures a mere 0.03 mm. Because the insert is so small, it could hypothetically be placed around the batteries of cars currently in operation.
Obviously, those cars would need to be electric (and properly modified) to receive the full benefits of the integration. Even so, the shrinking of solar battery cells is a significant development that bodes well for the environmental future of the automotive industry.
Development of solar panels in cars
Another eco-friendly manufacturer is looking to make a name for itself in the world of solar-powered cars. Lightyear promotes eco-driving and environmentally-friendly driving styles while also offering its consumers access to prototype electric vehicles. One such vehicle, the Lightyear One, is almost entirely covered in solar panels – though inconspicuously so.
Lightyear is made up of a team of ex-students affiliated with Solar Team Eindhoven. After winning the World Solar Challenge in 2013, 2015, and 2017, the team invested their know-how in the concentrated development of an environmentally-friendly, electric vehicle.
The Lightyear One is anticipated to hit the road in 2021. At present, the car is said to travel 725 on a single charge. That said, the majority of that power is drawn in by the five meters of solar panels on the car’s roof and hood.
While these panels, like those created by Toyota, are film-based, their effect is the same as those created by Hyundai. All three of these cars should improve the mileage of electric cars around the world.
The bad news is that these cars are all a few years off in development, or are at least geographically locked down until further developed. Anyway, that a solar-powered car is even a possibility is a great boon for the automotive industry and for those parties who want to lessen their carbon footprint.