NOS featured an item about trucks equipped with solar panels on the roof. The energy that the solar panels generate is not used to drive yet but can be used to recharge the drivers phone/laptop, make coffee, watch tv etc. without leaving the motor running and harming the environment.
Within the Topsector there are more PPP initiatives working on this innovation. For instance Laurens Siebbeles (TUD), Tom Gregorkiewicz and Peter Schall (UVA) working together with Toyota Motor Europe on the Mat4Sus project: Solar cells instead of car paint.
The partners in this project are developing new materials and designs for ultra-thin, light, flexible, and inexpensive high-efficiency solar cells. These solar cells are intended for use on surfaces where there is limited space, which are not straight, or which must be able to move flexibly. One example would be the surface of an electric car. The researchers are modifying promising, newly discovered materials to capture as many colours of sunlight as possible, and convert them efficiently into electricity. They will show how these materials can be used to make efficient, thin, flexible solar cells with the highest possible energy yield.
#thefutureofdriving #co2neutraalin2050
