The current challenge for freight companies is twofold: reducing carbon emissions and lowering operating expenses to stay competitive. Both of these objectives can be more easily accomplished with solar-powered transportation.
Unlike for automobiles, the road to total independence from fossil fuels is more complex for heavy-duty trucks. Despite all-electric vehicles already being a reality in this sector, the scarcity of infrastructure and technology to facilitate more than mid-range use are still major obstacles today.
Information and sources updated as of June 2023
Solar-powered transportation does have one advantage in being able to always and constantly draw from an inexhaustible and free source: the sun. Hence, after the initial investment to purchase and install photovoltaic panels on vehicles, there are no additional expenses to power the electricity-generation system. When it comes to heavy-duty vehicles, achieving complete fuel autonomy is a goal that is slowly coming into view. However, by installing a self-generation energy system, it is possible to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels even now.
Although it may seem like futuristic technology in some countries, more and more companies around the world are introducing solar panels in various fields, be it for freight transport and logistics or even on public and emergency vehicles.
From Europe to Oceania via the United States, photovoltaic panels on the roofs of trailers and trucks are becoming increasingly common.
In the United States, DHL Express announced in 2022 a plan to install solar panels on 67 of its trucks in an effort to reduce fuel consumption and limit emissions. Indeed, the photovoltaics are set to recharge the vehicle’s battery, power the tail lifts and other auxiliary services whilst reducing the load on the system’s alternator and thus lower fuel consumption (1).
Looking to Europe, Kuehne+Nagel in the Netherlands has decided to reduce CO₂ emissions by fitting solar on the trucks of its fleet and expects to lower fuel consumption by 1,200 liters per year per vehicle. This means an overall reduction of 6% per vehicle and a consequent decrease in CO₂ emissions of 3.8 tons per truck on an annual basis (2).
As to public transport, in Italy, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (3) is focused on renewing the Italian bus fleet. To this end, a 300-million-euro fund derived from PNRR (Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan) monies has been made available to bus manufacturers to support the entire sustainable mobility supply chain. In particular is the research and development of technologically-innovative components for the construction and assembly of modern and environmentally-sustainable means of transport. The installation of flexible solar panel systems certainly falls within this context.
Keeping within the European framework, such fleet modernization activities make even more sense and are quite understandable when framed within the existing 2019/1242 regulation on CO₂ emissions for new heavy-duty vehicles. Just this year, in 2023, a revision was proposed for this regulation that would include even stricter measures as of 2030 and extend the scope of the rules to smaller trucks, trailers plus city and long-distance buses.
Image source: Climate Action - EU Commission Website (https://climate.cc.europa.eu)
Current legislation includes incentive mechanisms for Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) and Low-Emission Vehicles (LEVs). From 2019 to 2024, a supercredit system applies, rewarding early adoption of ZLEVs. Starting from 2025, a bonus-only benchmark applies and manufacturers are only rewarded by the sale of ZLEVs after a sales benchmark of 2% has been met.
These mechanisms aim to accelerate compliance with EU emission limits and promote the adoption of electric vehicles in the heavy-duty vehicle fleet (4).
With regard to solar-powered transportation, the traditional rigid and heavy panels installed on buildings cannot be the technology of reference. Instead, flexible solar panels are needed, being more easily adaptable and able to best avail of even small spaces without containing glass, which would not last long given the mechanical stresses typical of mobility. Dedicated solar-powered transportation modules are consequently thin, lightweight and particularly resistant to shocks and extreme weather conditions. These are all distinctive characteristics of the flexible solar panels produced by Solbian which, thanks to the high efficiency of the comprising cells, are able to achieve elevated levels of power, even in very small spaces.
Investing in flexible photovoltaic panels to optimize a fleet of trucks may be the best choice for sustainability but also comes with other benefits.
As we have seen above, these panels reduce fuel consumption, emissions, and operating costs, while also extending the range of on-board services and battery life.
This latter aspect is quite important given that the battery is the most expensive component of an electrical system. Photovoltaics on board help prevent voltage surges, deep discharges, and unexpected shutdowns, ensuring reliable operation and obviating one of the main problems for logistics companies: missed deliveries.
What’s more, the prices of flexible solar panels have been decreasing, making them a more affordable option without compromising on technology or performance. Investing in solar-powered transportation is now seen as a practical choice due to its evident economic and environmental benefits.
To gain a thorough understanding of this technology, we have created an e-book dedicated to solar-powered transportation for those working with heavy-duty fleets.
Click below to receive a free copy of the e-book via email.