Recent trends in photovoltaic technologies for sustainable transportation in passenger vehicles – A review

For the last few decades, four-wheeled passenger vehicles have become a prime mode of transportation, with exponential growth due to rapid urbanization. The demand for a reduced carbon footprint and limitations with energy sustenance have brought out alternative energy sources that aspire to sustainable transportation. Interestingly, integrating photovoltaics within the vehicle would aid in energy generation and utilization, especially in tropical climates. However, the upfront challenges of these vehicles include reliability, which affects the overall vehicle performance. This comprehensive review of Vehicle Integrated Photovoltaics (VIPV) reveals the detailed conception and technologies developed in passenger vehicles in the recent past. Although various studies have been carried out, the viability of using advanced photovoltaic systems and aspects of module integration in VIPV are relatively unexplored. This review reveals the recent trends adopted to optimize the electric charge in the vehicle. Also, the advent of emerging solar cells and their applicability for VIPV is put forward with novel ideas. To demonstrate the energy generation possible through VIPV, a case study is carried out to analyze the potential solar energy yield ‘E’ for the different drive routes in a tropical climate region, in particular the fast-growing country of India. Results reveal that module wattage and vehicle surface area have a high impact on yield ‘E’, along with travel duration and meteorological conditions. Technical challenges pertaining to VIPV passenger vehicles have been discussed and presented with pathbreaking ideologies to emphasize the future scope of VIPV research.