Toyota puts a Prius PHV with solar panels to the test

Toyota puts a Prius PHV with solar panels to the test as many car manufacturers are looking for ways to extend the range of their electric and plug-in hybrid cars, and solar panels may become the hottest solution at the moment. Toyota knows this and has already announced a plan to begin testing on public roads from the end of this very month of July 2019.

The chosen model is the Toyota Prius PHV, better known as the Toyota Prius Prime in the United States, which has been fitted with high-efficiency solar panels.

The tests will be carried out in Japan and will benefit from the support of Sharp Corporation and the country’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, better known by its acronym, NEDO. As part of the programme, Sharp will supply solar battery panels on board using high-efficiency cells.

According to the manufacturer itself, the goal is to “evaluate the effectiveness of improvements in range and fuel efficiency of electrified vehicles equipped with high-efficiency solar batteries“. Toyota installed the solar panels supplied by Sharp on the roof, the bonnet, the boot and some other part of the Toyota Prius PHV to produce a test car for public roads.

Solar-powered Toyota, a solution to range?

Compared with the Toyota Prius PHV that is available with a solar-charging roof system, the new test car is superior in every respect. It has 860 W, the rated power output is 4.8 times greater, and the conversion efficiency of the solar battery cell exceeds 34% versus 22.5%. Most importantly, the demonstration car uses a system that charges the battery both when the car is parked and when it is in motion.

This development is expected to lead to “considerable improvements in the range of electrically propelled cars and in fuel efficiency”. More specifically, Toyota has stated that the maximum daily charge of the experimental vehicle’s battery while parked is equivalent to a driving range of around 44.5 kilometres, compared with 6.1 km for the production car.

The figures improve when the car is moving, as the maximum daily charge and power supply for driving and the auxiliary battery amount to a driving range of 56.3 kilometres. The Toyota Prius PHV production solar-charging system will only supply energy in motion to the auxiliary battery, which powers navigation and other systems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyl82xZkZsY

In addition, Toyota will carry out road tests under various driving conditions in Toyota City in Tokyo and in other areas of its home country. The aim is to use the resulting data to develop a on-board solar charging system. For its part, the Japanese brand has added that “the Photovoltaic Vehicle Strategy Committee and other entities will evaluate the benefits of improvements in reduction of CO2 emissions and greater convenience, including how many times a vehicle must be charged. The goal is to continue contributing to the creation of a new market for solar battery panels, including the transport sector, and to find solutions to energy and environmental problems.”