Abstract
Heavy-duty electric powertrains provide a potential solution to the high emissions and low fuel economy of trucks, buses, and other heavy-duty vehicles. However, the cost, weight, and lifespan of electric vehicle batteries limit the implementation of such vehicles. This paper proposes supplementing the battery with on-board photovoltaic modules. In this paper, a bus model is created to analyze the impact of on-board photovoltaics on electric bus range and battery lifespan. Photovoltaic systems that cover the bus roof and bus sides are considered. The bus model is simulated on a suburban bus drive cycle on a bus route in Davis, CA, USA for a representative sample of yearly weather conditions. Roof-mounted panels increased vehicle driving range by 4.7% on average annually, while roof and side modules together increased driving range by 8.9%. However, variations in weather conditions meant that this additional range was not reliably available. For constant vehicle range, rooftop photovoltaic modules extended battery cycle life by up to 10% while modules on both the roof and sides extended battery cycle life by up to 19%. Although side-mounted photovoltaics increased cycle life and range, they were less weight- and cost-effective compared to the roof-mounted panels.
Highlights
The internal combustion engine is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and hydrocarbon pollution across the globe
Because of the cost to implement and test the proposed system and the time needed to run the battery to the end of its life, simulation is used to assess the performance of on-board PV (OBPV) on an electric bus
The results are used to measure the amount of electrical energy that was collected per year from an OBPV system, compared to the annual consumption of electric energy by the bus
Summary
The internal combustion engine is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and hydrocarbon pollution across the globe. The authors are unaware of any other studies directly pertaining to on-board collection of solar energy for heavy-duty electric vehicles Given this lack of research, this paper chooses to investigate PV modules integrated on an electric bus for two reasons: one, the large, flat roof and sides of a bus provide ample space on which to attach. PV modules and collect solar energy; two, the low speeds and frequent idle time of the bus allow the PV modules to provide a larger share of the traction load compared to, for instance, a truck operating on the highway. The stored solar energy will reduce the depth of discharge of the battery, potentially increasing the battery cycle life and reducing the lifetime cost of the vehicle In this paper, both the range-extension and battery cycle life effects of OBPV on electric buses are investigated through a numerical experiment.
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