Also, the new development allows you to charge the batteries of an electric vehicle while driving.
Toyota is testing a new and improved version of solar panels it has developed with partners Sharp and Japan's national research organization NEDO.
The new development is said to have an efficiency of 34%, which is noticeably higher than the 22% that the best of today's solar panels can provide. This is a big improvement over previous solutions that could only charge an extra battery. It is stated that one day of charging with such batteries will provide an additional 44.5 km. It seems to be not very much, but they will never be superfluous.
The thickness of the film with such solar panels is only 0.03 mm. It can be easily applied to the hood, roof or trunk of almost any vehicle, while covering a slightly larger area than previous battery versions could provide.
Presently Toyota busy testing their development. The solar-powered vehicle will drive around Japan's roads to test new batteries at various times in various weather and road conditions. Ultimately, the goal is to promote the commercialization of this more efficient technology, which is so well suited for use in vehicles.
At the moment, solar panels on cars are used so far only for experimental purposes. However, recently a startup from the Netherlands Lightyear presented the first sample of a commercial “sontsemobile”, which received the uncomplicated name One. But its production should begin no earlier than 2021. In addition, the cost of $ 170,000 will not allow the development to become any mass.
