Some Issues on the Design of a Solar Vehicle Based on Hybrid Energy System

The conception and assembly of an experimental Hybrid Electric Vehicle based on the combination of human energy contribution and photovoltaic solar energy is presented in this manuscript. The vehicle has a battery for storing the energy provided by both systems. The application’s aim is to achieve the lowest possible energy consumption for the vehicle’s movement, with photovoltaic modules as the main electricity source. The development of the solar vehicle was motivated by a Latin-American solar vehicles race about 1000km across the Atacama Desert in Chile, South America. The main constructive aspects, energy issues and experimental results are presented.The need to research for achieving practical zero emission in the source and consumption in addition to the challenge of linking the scientific-technological knowledge to the global interests of a sustainable planet, by means of the promotion of the use of alternative energies, makes evident the aim to initially possess an experimental prototype of HEV. In this sense, photovoltaic solar energy plays an essential role in the implementation of clean energies as main electricity source for EVs. A zero-emission solar vehicle is powered by photovoltaic solar energy by means of solar panels, with storage of electric energy in batteries, and the traction is obtained by an electric motor, this is the basic idea[6]. Nevertheless, solar energy for vehicle applications is not anobvious issue because several critical points must be carefully analysed, e.g., a) the efficiency and costs of photovoltaic panels, b) how to maximize the solar radiation, and c) the energy management and control[7].At present there are numerous solar vehicle projects around the world for multiple purposes. From the applied research point of view, interesting contributions have been presented in the last two years, e.g., in[5] a photovoltaic powered zero-emission electric vehicle is presented in the context of an educational project. In[8] a solar and wind powered HEV, with an internal combustion engine was proposed, and initially tested in a commercial product. A hybrid energy system for an EV is proposed in[9], including solar panel, battery and super-capacitor, jointly with the system configuration and control strategy analysis. A project involving battery powered electric vehicles charged by photovoltaic panels is being carried out for agricultural activities in remote hilly areas in the Southern Mediterranean region, with the aim to investigate the cleaner production of power hence reducing the use of diesel fuels in agriculture[10]. On the other hand, solar vehicles are built around the world to participate of different solar races with the aim to test and investigate new technological advancements and its potential application in zero-emission vehicles[11,12].The conception and construction of an experimental solar vehicle based on hybrid system that combines photovoltaic solar energy and human energy contribution is presented