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Canadian custom module manufacturer Capsolar has developed a vehicle-integrated photovoltaic (VIPV) system for an electric material towing application that reportedly increases range by 30% to 40% per battery charge.
Canadian Capsolar, a manufacturer of vehicle-integrated photovoltaic (VIPV) systems, has recently completed a ground transportation project with an electric tow tractor.
“We design, build and install the solar photovoltaic system, including electronic and physical integrations. It is used in one of the largest original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive sector based in the United States,” Capsolar CEO Samy Benhamza told pv magazine . “Our client uses electric ground support vehicles to transport heavy materials.”
Capsolars system consists of 5.6 kW of power based on 20 solar panels, a high-efficiency controller system and a data management monitoring platform. It allows you to increase autonomy between 30% and 40% per battery charge, according to Benhamza.
Looking ahead, the Canadian company is in talks to equip the rest of the OEMs fleet with “an improved, larger and higher-efficiency system.”
The US ground support vehicle project comes after Capsolar completed construction of a 3 MW pilot line at a 560.3 m2 facility in Montreal, Quebec.
Capsolar was founded in 2020 and began developing custom photovoltaic systems for small vehicles, such as electric golf carts, and has since expanded into electric passenger vehicles, marine and land transportation applications.
It typically uses cells supplied by American manufacturer Maxeon that have an efficiency of 24%, along with high-efficiency charge controllers to optimize power production. The company can customize the shape, texture, size and color of the modules to adapt to customer requests. |
