SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAICS AND AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Photovoltaic (P.V.) solar cells convert sunlight into electricity. The conversion of available sunlight to electricity leads to investigations focused on technologies that reduce reliance on fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions. Investigative work in this area leads to several improvements, increasing efficiencies, cleaner processes, new materials, and reduces cost. With increasing awareness and growing need for sustainable development, P.V.'s have made their way into various applications in the Energy, Industrial, Commercial, Residential, and Transportation sectors of the world. The migration of P.V.’s is reducing reliance on fossil fuels for energy while combating carbon emissions and climate change. The oil embargo of the 1970s led many governments and researchers to investigate alternative and cleaner technologies of vehicle propulsion in the transportation industry, including hydrogen, ethanol, natural gas, methane, and various forms of electric vehicles (E.V.'s). Of these technologies, electric vehicles have gained popularity in the market with improvements continuing to advance the field in energy efficiency, storage, and management with a potential of energy generation using P.V.'s mounted to vehicles. The utilization of vehicle integrated P.V. solar cells presents possibilities for improving the range of electric vehicles demonstrated throughout various solar race challenges worldwide. Many of these solar electric vehicles (S.E.V.'s) were on the individual, research-based scale, and little use of this technology has made it to market vehicles. Further improvements and investigations in P.V. and E.V. technology continue to improve consumer level adoption to address their challenges and limitations. As a result of examining these facts, the researchers present a summary systemic review of existing research on the use of solar energy to power an automobile. It will lightly cover solar energy collectors and then provide a more in-depth examination of existing literature.