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Solar Energy a promising source for E-vehicles

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DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3344620

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 Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2

Solar Energy a Promising Source for E-Vehicles

Mallikarjun G Hudedmani 1*, Vishwanath M Soppimath2, Santosh V Hubballi3,
Pooja Shirur4
1
Associate Professor, 2,3Assistant Professor, 4UG Student
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, KLE Institute of Technology,
Gokul, Hubballi, Karnataka, India
Email: mallikarjunh@yahoo.com
DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3344620

Abstract
The demand and availability of energy is growing day by day in the whole world. Renewable
energy resources will play an important role in the future as the conventional energy sources
like coal and petroleum are limited and declining. In the present situation, energy crisis is an
important very critical problem hence necessary to address. Basically, it is to verify the
availability to increase the generation or to install additional generators. Alternatively, load
management known as demand side management (DSM) strategy must be adopted. In the
current scenario, the uses of fossil fuel for the domestic transport are rapidly increasing and
indicate the threat in the near future. The adverse effects of the practice of such vehicles and
means leads to the environment pollution and health issues related to the living habitats. In
line with this the upcoming mode of transport is E-vehicles keeping concerned about the
environment pollution. The drawback of this mode of transport is the use of electric energy
for the propulsion and going to create additional burden on the existing power system setup
and infrastructure. But the use of power electronics and controls in Electric vehicles (EVs)
along with latest technologies is fostering and supporting the green transportation systems.
E-Vehicle charger is the role player in reducing the dependence on fossil fuels and is the
natural evolution of our energy infrastructure significantly. Consumer incentives are also
important to make the purchase of an electric vehicle and home fast-charging station more
affordable and attractive. To address this issue most of the developed countries have taken up
an initiative to extract solar photovoltaic conversion systems to store and transfer to the grid.
The present rate of use of E-vehicles is 70% compared to the earlier decade. From the
perspective of solar energy basically, it is extracted as either heat or light energy. But the
storage system is the bottle neck issue in this regard due to technical, economic barriers and
challenges. The power electronics interfaces male E-vehicle battery to get charged from the
grid if there is no source solar energy known as grid to vehicle (G2V). The other mode is to
transfer the stored energy from the storage battery to grid (V2G) as and when grid finds the
deficit of energy to meet its loads. Then the solar PV systems installed on the roof top of the
vehicle generate the electricity and is used for their operation by the battery support.
Therefore, the E-vehicles fitted with solar PV panels can even transfer electricity to the grid
(V2G). Hence, the suitable design and implementation can prove the solar photovoltaic
source as a promising source for such E vehicle application in the very near future. This
creates an opportunity to the engineers and enterprises.

Keywords: E-vehicles, PV based charging, solar energy

INTRODUCTION is to explore the ability and to utilize solar

The main objectives of the concept “Solar energy for E-vehicles thus reducing the
energy a promising source for E-vehicles” fossil fuel consumption and protect the

10 Page 10-20 © MAT Journals 2019. All Rights Reserved

 Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
environment. The conventional vehicles
and potential for the use of alternative
technologies in automobiles such as
electric/hybrid vehicles need to be worked
out or develop a plug-in hybrid electric
vehicle by converting available
conventional vehicle with a suitable motor
and battery. It is also necessary to know
why E-vehicle couldn’t get enough
consumer attraction. Need for E-vehicles
marketing and production can be done and
problems can be solved by applying
suitable engineering solution techniques
considering consumer requirements and
cost constraints. Consumers should be
aware of the CO2 emissions caused by
fossil fuel-based vehicles and the
initiatives taken by government for
promoting E-vehicles by giving subsidies.
Electrical energy demand is increasing at
an exponential rate which is very
important for all the aspects of modern
life. The exponential growth of the world
population witnesses the same. Therefore,
energy sources will play an important role.
Present practices in this regard are having
potential and priorities which attempt to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
improvement in the energy efficiency of
domestic, offices and industries, energy
marketing, energy management, energy
conservation and energy security. These
also try to find the practical and affordable
alternate sources of energy, developing
cleaner and more efficient transportation
vehicles and systems, energy policy and
energy strategy. Excessive extraction of
fossil fuels or depletion and environmental
degradation are the major issues that the
current world is facing. To overcome these
problems, recently renewable energy has
been receiving increasing attention due to
its environmental benefits. Competition of
renewable fuels to the fossil fuels is
important in the near future. The first
11 Page 10-20 © MAT Journals 2019. All Rights Reserved
e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2
law of thermodynamics, also known as
the law of conservation of energy, states
that energy can neither be created nor
destroyed it can only be changed from
one form to another. Solar energy is the
energy from the sun one who is the huge
source of energy in the form of heat and
light resulting from nuclear fusion at its
core. The nuclear reaction releases
energy that travels outward to the
surface of the sun. The earth absorbs
about 3,850,000 exajoules of solar
energy every year and primary energy
out of that is light energy. Among heat
and light few of the systems utilize the
heat energy for heating and rest others
convert or transform the light into
electrical energy. In the present
situation energy crisis is an important
very critical problem hence necessary to
address. Basically, it is to verify the
availability to increase the generation or
to install additional generators.
Alternatively, a systematic demand side
management schemes such as demand
control and shift or curtailment (DSM)
methods must be adopted. In the current
scenario the uses of fossil fuel for the
domestic transport is rapidly increasing
and indicate the threat in the near future.
The adverse effects of the practice of
such vehicles and means leads to the
environment pollution and health issues
related to the living habitats. In line
with this the upcoming mode of transport
is E-vehicles keeping concerned about
the environment. The drawback of this
mode of transport is the use of electric
energy for the propulsion and going to
create additional burden on the existing
power system setup and infrastructure.
The advent of power electronics made
the E-vehicle (EVs) application wise and
green among the other transportation
systems.
 Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
Figure 1: Sales of different E-vehicles.
Fig. 1 and 2 show the sales different
electric vehicles and global sales. E-
vehicle charger is the role player in
reducing the dependence on fossil fuels
and is the natural evolution of our energy
infrastructure significantly. Present
policies are attracting the consumer by
providing beneficial incentives for the
purchase of an electric vehicle and
adoptable home charging station. To
address this issue most of the developed
countries have taken up an initiative to use
and extract solar photovoltaic energy
conversion systems to store and transfer to
the grid. The current rate of use of E-
vehicles is 70% compared to the earlier
decade. From the perspective of solar
energy basically it is extracted as either
heat or light energy.
Presently, the storage system is the bottle
neck issue in this regard due to technical
and economic barriers and challenges. The
perception of electric or hybrid vehicle has
changed over the years. These vehicles are
viewed as interface between the grid as
V2G and G2V for appropriate charging or
discharging. Then the solar PV systems
installed on the roof top of the vehicle
(considering a retrofit) generate the
electricity and is stored in the battery for
their operation. E vehicles fitted with solar
11 Page 10-20 © MAT Journals 2019. All Rights Reserved
e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2
Figure 2: Global Sales of E-Vehicles.
PV can even transfer electricity to the grid
(V2G) using suitable power electronic
interface while not in operation or on need.
Hence the suitable design and
implementation can prove that the solar
photovoltaic as a promising source for
such E-vehicle application in the very near
future creating lot of opportunity to the
engineers and enterprises.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Electric vehicles are increasingly seen as a
means of reducing carbon emissions for
transport operations. The first mass
produced fully electric vehicle was the
Nissan Leaf. The number of Leafs sold
passed 50,000 on the 14th February 2013
and the total mileage covered by Leafs has
exceeded 161 million miles (260 million
km). [1] The sales of battery electric
vehicles such as the Leaf are exceeding
those of the Toyota Prius, the first mass
produced hybrid vehicle, at an equivalent
stage of its market life. [2] Vehicle to Grid
technology, allowing electric vehicles to
act as a power source, is seen as a major
selling point for electric vehicle
technology. The use of vehicle batteries in
this way means that during overnight
charging the vehicles can be used as
localized buffers to smooth the load on the
power supply grid. The US Department of
 Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
Defense is investing $20million to
demonstrate the concept using a fleet of
electric vehicles and it is believed that the
use of the vehicles in this way will offset
the increased purchase costs of electric
vehicles. [3] A further advantage offered
by battery electric vehicles is the removal
of emissions from the point of operations,
offering improved air quality in congested
cities. [2, 4] Despite the sales achieved,
EV uptake has so far fallen short of
expectations. The main reasons are related
to perceptions of poor performance and
range along with cost. [5]
Most of the vehicles are running on the
gasoline fuels. These vehicles exhaust
Functional Diagram
Figure 3: Block diagram solar E-vehicle.
Fig. 3 show a general diagram of E-
vehicle having solar charging option.
Due to the unavailability of sun during
night hours of a day it demands large
storage battery as per the capacity of the
vehicle. The modification on the said
model is to provide charging option not
only from solar it is also from electric
grid as shown in Fig. 4. Sun is the
secondary source of energy for the
vehicle. Energy from sun is collected by
the solar panels and is stored into the
batteries. For a sample case study, a
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e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2
hazards gases. This increases the
environmental pollution in the world. In
recent years to reduce the pollution
researchers have given the solution of
EV’s or hybrid vehicles and many
countries adopted this as one of the best
solutions to reduce pollution. The
popularity is due to battery and silent
operation. The present challenge is the
optimization of best battery and charging.
E-VEHICLES AND WORKING
The block diagrams of proposed E-vehicle
having solar charging and facility to
interface with local grid for the charging
and discharging is presented in the
following section.
Figure 4: Functional block diagram.
vehicle utilizes 24V DC series motor
and a storage battery. The rear wheel of
the vehicle is connected to motor
through chain sprocket. Before the study
of the model the battery is assumed to
be charged fully and during the transit
of the vehicle the charging is done. It is
very important for the batteries to
charge and discharge to keep their life
cycle good. The solar powered vehicles
utilize various components and a list of
components is shown in the Table 1 for
a solar powered four-wheeler.
 Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2

Table 1: List of components used for four-wheeler.

Working of the E-vehicle after converting light into electricity. The

The electronic charge controller and the
solar panel help to charge and control the
energy in the battery for the vehicles
operation with suitable protection of depth
of discharge and over charge etc. A 140
Wp solar module is used with output
ranging from 24V to 25V DC at standard
test conditions (STC) is present in the
sample case example. The batteries are
initially fully charged before the usage of
vehicle. The solar panel installed charge
features incorporated keep the condition of
the set up good as the availability of solar
insolation matters the most as per the
geographical position of the vehicle.
Generally, in India, between 9:30 am to
3:30pm with proper mounting of solar panels
best electricity extraction can be achieved.
The motor mounted in the vehicle can
perform its intended movements as per the
control with the battery power. Fig. 5 shows a
sample E-vehicle.

Figure 5: Sectional view of E-vehicle powered by solar PV.

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 Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
The important parts of the E-vehicle
Following are the important components
associated with proposed E-vehicle and
controller.
Battery
The battery is the very important part and
can be charged through the electricity at a
specialized power station. Battery
autonomy is the important design
constraint. Aside from conventional
lithium ion battery technologies, there are
at least four major battery technologies
now represented: Solid state, aluminum
ion, lithium sulfur, and metal-air. The
battery based EVs are providing a run of
about 200 miles on full charge and
generally a range of 70–125 miles looks
more typical.
Motor Controller
The motor controllers are the electronic
circuits control the motors operation as per
the need and road conditions operated by
the user. The controllers are built with
sufficient intelligence to feed the motor
and take adequate safety. The power usage
optimization is the special function to
reduce the consumption and improve
battery autonomy.
Electric Engine
Electric engines can be structured to use
either alternating current or direct current
(AC or DC) for the propulsion with
suitable motors. AC motors tend to be less
expensive and lighter than DC motors
normally they exhibit an efficiency of
about 82 to 96% against those DC motors
reaching about 95%−96% efficiency at full
load. AC engines are quite common due
their least maintenance and cost compared
to DC engines.
Drive System
The drive system of E-vehicle needs an
electric motor, gear box, differential,
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e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2
connecting and suitable transmission
mechanism. The size and configuration
depend on type of vehicle and mode of
operation. There are different types of
couplings to transfer the power to the
wheels like directly coupled, gearbox-
based coupling, single large capacity
motor or individual motors on each wheel
etc. The efficient transfer of power from
the propulsion motor to the wheel is
challenging due to the losses in different
stages.
DC/DC Converter The power electronic
interface able to condition the DC output
as required. The input pulsating DC may
be from a simple converter or a battery.
The specific level of output voltage is
managed by switching the elements in the
converter. For example, a 48V/12V, 100W
module converting the 48V battery output
to 12V for the loads like lights, signals and
wipers, etc.
Peak Power Tracker
Maximum power point tracker (MPPT) is
a mechanism try to maximize the solar
systems performance by setting a suitable
operating point to extract and provide
maximum output to the next
interconnected systems. It may be a
microprocessor-controlled DC/DC step
down converter used by a solar power
system to charge the battery.
SOLAR PV AN ALTERNATIVE
SOURCE FOR E -VEHICLES
The E-vehicle usage and growth are the
indicator for the future solar vehicles. This
is the shift possible in the automobile
industry. They are highly feasible and can
be manufactured with ease. The main
advantages of a solar vehicle are that they
are pollution less and are very economical.
Since they do not cause pollution, they are
very eco-friendly reducing the increasing
pollution levels from automobiles. By
 Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
harvesting the renewable sources of energy
like the solar energy we are helping in
preserving the non-renewable sources of
energy. The solar E-vehicle is very user
friendly and requires very less
maintenance in comparison with
combustion engines.
Silicon Solar PV Cells and Operation
The solar photovoltaic energy conversion
is to obtain electricity from the silicon
junction as and when light falls on the cell.
Several cells in series and parallel
constitute panel of larger wattage. The
similar concept is used in E-vehicles to
charge the battery apart from conventional
Figure 6: Silicon cell.
The supplied additional energy to the
silicon in the form of heat breaks the
electron bond and release electrons by
creating a hole. These wandering
electrons try to find holes to pair. These
electrons are called free carriers and
constitute electrical current. The impure
silicon with phosphorous atoms mixed
takes a very less energy to knock and
loose extra phosphorous electrons as
they aren't tied up in a bond with their
neighbors. On the receipt of sun energy
in the form of insolation the liberated
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e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2
grid-based charging for its propulsion.
This kind of approach is increasing in
transport applications and taking lead in
the current decade. Fig. 6 shows the typical
working of a basic solar cell. A silicon solar
cell has impurities of other atoms mixed in
with the silicon atoms, changing the way
things work let silicon with an atom of
phosphorous be considered and there may be
one for every million silicon atoms. In case of
Phosphorous with its five electrons in the
outer shell it still bonds with its neighbor
silicon atoms. There exists one free electron
in the phosphorous that doesn't have bonding
with it but there is a positive proton in the
phosphorous nucleus holding it.
free electron constitute current in large
value in doped silicon compared to pure.
Hence addition of impurity to the silicon
is very crucial. Actually, in the solar PV
cell only one part is N-type. The other
part is P-type which is doped with boron
and possesses three electrons in its outer
shell instead of four. P-type silicon ("p"
for positive) has free holes instead of
electrons. Holes are the phenomenal
creation on the exit of an electron not
only carries a positive charge it does
move like electron.
 Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2

Figure 7: Typical growth of applications Figure: 8 Exponential increase in usage

of solar PV over years. of solar PV in the past few years.

Fig. 7 and 8 show the annual growth in
solar PV application past from few years.
Consider the sample case study of a
vehicle with the load of 250Kg on the
motor including the weight of person
driving it. The E-vehicles propulsion
motor after initial start attains the
maximum operation speed of 18km/h to
30km/h. The solar panels assembled
charge the batteries continuously. Motor
needs to be started with top most gear so
as to get maximum torque and speed to
drive the full load. The speed may be
varied later according to the driver’s
requirements. As the load current varies
with the speed. So, the speed variation
must be low to keep battery alive for
maximum duration of time. To stop the
motor, the speed control switch should be
brought to minimum and then switch
should be open so that the mechanical
brakes should be applied. The mechanical
brakes are applied instantly during
emergency needs but this should be
avoided as this could damage the motor
and also produce unnecessary back emf.
The average battery back-up is around four
hours. The batteries are charged
continuously by the solar panel but to
reduce the charging time and increase their
charging rate the dynamos of 24 V can be
connected to the vehicle wheels. The
movement of vehicle result dynamos to
generate EMF and will charge the
batteries. Hence the charging and
discharging cycle of the batteries will be
complete.
Different Types of Solar E-vehicles
The commercially available models of
proposed idea are likely available in the
literature and views of few samples are
shown Fig. 9 and 10.

Figure 9: Solar E-vehicle for future automobile industry.

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 Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2

Figure 10: The implemented solar based E-vehicles.

Fig. 11 show such application for the
storage of electricity or charging of the
batteries for the application became a
challenging task so much of charging
bunks or charging stations are provided,
current government has proposed
charging stations at metro city typically
such provisions must be there, then it
became an opportunity for solar E-
vehicles to grow in the coming decayed,
which is affordable to everybody can
have such affordable mode of transport
of E-vehicles which will never burden
on national grid.

Figure 11: Charging stations of E-vehicles.

Figure 12: Energy consumption. Figure 13: Increment in energy consumption.

Fig. 12 shows that consumption of that in the future there is increase in usage
renewable energy from 1965 and is found of renewable energy source.
slowly increasing till 2015. Fig. 13 shows

18 Page 10-20 © MAT Journals 2019. All Rights Reserved


Figure 14: Variation of energy costs.
Figure 16: Global installed solar PV.
Fig. 14 show photovoltaic base scenario is
a 6% yearly cost decrease, and the
accelerated scenario is 8%. Conventional
price assumes 8% yearly increase. Fig. 15
show global sales of E-vehicles and its
future as expected to be good and probable
increase in electricity demand need to be
anticipated. Fig. 16 shows the global solar
PV installations to support electricity
demands. Fig. 17 highlights the state wise
solar PV growth in India. The vision of
solar energy integration to the grid with
the solution to its parity issues is assumed
to be by 2020. The supportive and
promotional tariff structure for the smooth
functioning and profit is expected by the
venture.
CONCLUSION
The present mix mode of transportation is
having adverse emissions to the
19 Page 10-20 © MAT Journals 2019. All Rights Reserved
Journal of Innovation and Instrumentation Science
e-ISSN: 2456-9860
Volume 4 Issue 2
Figure 15: Global sales of electric vehicles.
Figure 17: State wise Indian installed solar PV.
atmosphere and the current practice to
reduce the impacts of these emissions is of
greater importance. The practice of electric
vehicles (EV) in this regard added greater
value and provided large scope to the
development and research. The associated
government policies and benefits to both
the manufactures and user need to be
revisited to enhance the E-vehicle market.
But the popularity of silent and eco
friendly electric vehicles is increasing now
a day’s creating bundle of opportunities
for the enterprises and users.
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Volume 4 Issue 2
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Cite this article as:
Mallikarjun G Hudedmani, Vishwanath
M Soppimath, Pooja Shirur, & Santosh V
Hubballi. (2019). Solar Energy a
Promising Source for E-Vehicles. Journal
of Instrumentation and Innovation
Science, 4(2), 10–20.
http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3344620