IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v210y2026ics0965856426001977.html

Solar-powered public transit: evaluating photovoltage deployment strategies for battery electric bus networks

Author

Listed:
  • Zhou, Yu
  • Wang, Yun
  • Meng, Qiang

Abstract

As global cities transition toward low-carbon mobility, integrating photovoltaic (PV) technologies into battery electric bus systems has emerged as a promising solution to reduce grid dependency, operational costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. This study holistically evaluates three PV deployment strategies, namely onboard PV panels (solar-powered buses), station-based PV infrastructure, and a hybrid configuration, through a comparative analysis across multiple scenarios using an optimization-based framework. Using real-world data on charging patterns and irradiance conditions, we quantitatively investigate how each strategy affects grid load, return on investment (ROI), payback period, and discounted life-cycle economic performance. The results show that all PV-based strategies reduce electricity expenditure relative to the grid-only benchmark, while exhibiting different trade-offs in short-term cost-effectiveness, long-term economic value, and grid interaction. Under first-pass economic indicators, depot-based PV systems offer the shortest payback period and the highest ROI, whereas hybrid systems provide the most substantial grid peak shaving and the largest absolute annual savings. To further strengthen the economic comparison, we conduct a net present value analysis under different discount rates. The results show that although station-based PV remains more attractive from a short-term recovery perspective, the hybrid configuration delivers larger discounted lifetime net benefits, and its additional investment remains economically justifiable over the project life. A spatial analysis further categorizes global regions based on PV suitability, showing that tropical and subtropical cities are the most promising for large-scale implementation. Future projections incorporating PV and energy storage system (ESS) cost trends suggest that declining technology costs will substantially enhance investment performance, making PV deployment increasingly feasible by 2030–2035. Overall, the results provide actionable insights for transit agencies and policymakers seeking resilient, grid-friendly, and cost-effective energy strategies for public transportation electrification.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou, Yu & Wang, Yun & Meng, Qiang, 2026. "Solar-powered public transit: evaluating photovoltage deployment strategies for battery electric bus networks," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:210:y:2026:i:c:s0965856426001977
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2026.105056
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856426001977
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2026.105056?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wendeker, Mirosław & Gęca, Michał Jan & Grabowski, Łukasz & Pietrykowski, Konrad & Kasianantham, Nanthagopal, 2022. "Measurements and analysis of a solar-assisted city bus with a diesel engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    2. Liu, Xiaohan & Yeh, Sonia & Plötz, Patrick & Ma, Wenxi & Li, Feng & Ma, Xiaolei, 2024. "Electric bus charging scheduling problem considering charging infrastructure integrated with solar photovoltaic and energy storage systems," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    3. Giagnorio, Mirko & Börjesson, Maria & D'Alfonso, Tiziana, 2024. "Introducing electric buses in urban areas: Effects on welfare, pricing, frequency, and public subsidies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    4. Xylia, Maria & Silveira, Semida, 2018. "The role of charging technologies in upscaling the use of electric buses in public transport: Experiences from demonstration projects," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 399-415.
    5. ur Rehman, Naveed & Hijazi, Mohamad & Uzair, Muhammad, 2020. "Solar potential assessment of public bus routes for solar buses," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 193-200.
    6. Xiaohan Liu & Patrick Plötz & Sonia Yeh & Zhengke Liu & Xiaoyue Cathy Liu & Xiaolei Ma, 2024. "Transforming public transport depots into profitable energy hubs," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 9(10), pages 1206-1219, October.
    7. Kevin R. Mallon & Francis Assadian & Bo Fu, 2017. "Analysis of On-Board Photovoltaics for a Battery Electric Bus and Their Impact on Battery Lifespan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-31, July.
    8. Zhou, Yu & Ong, Ghim Ping & Meng, Qiang, 2023. "The road to electrification: Bus fleet replacement strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    9. Chen, Haoqian & Sui, Yi & Shang, Wen-long & Sun, Rencheng & Chen, Zhiheng & Wang, Changying & Han, Chunjia & Zhang, Yuqian & Zhang, Haoran, 2022. "Towards renewable public transport: Mining the performance of electric buses using solar-radiation as an auxiliary power source," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    10. Hu, Xiuyu & Li, Hailong & Xie, Chi, 2025. "Optimal charging scheduling of an electric bus fleet with photovoltaic-storage-charging stations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 390(C).
    11. Zaneti, Letícia A.L. & Arias, Nataly Bañol & de Almeida, Madson C. & Rider, Marcos J., 2022. "Sustainable charging schedule of electric buses in a University Campus: A rolling horizon approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yuan, Hui & Mei, Hao, 2026. "Benefit allocation and pricing mechanisms in renewable-thermal energy coalitions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peng, Yiyang & Wang, Zhuowei & Chen, Anthony, 2026. "Benefiting from solar: Optimal scheduling for solar electric buses with onboard PV auxiliary power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 408(C).
    2. Liu, Jiacheng & Hu, Xiuyu & Xie, Chi & Ma, Xiaolei & Gu, Weihua & Fu, Xiaowen, 2026. "Charging electric buses with solar power under varying environmental temperatures and sunlight conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 407(C).
    3. Bie, Yiming & Qin, Wei & Wu, Jiabin, 2024. "Optimal electric bus scheduling method under hybrid energy supply mode of photovoltaic-energy storage system-power grid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 372(C).
    4. Hu, Xiuyu & Li, Hailong & Xie, Chi, 2025. "Optimal charging scheduling of an electric bus fleet with photovoltaic-storage-charging stations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 390(C).
    5. Li, Yanhao & Li, Xin & Zhang, Chengdong & Zhang, Yanxi, 2024. "Optimizing the photovoltaic-assisted electric bus network with rooftop energy supply," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    6. Liu, Zhengke & Ma, Xiaolei & Zhuo, Siyu & Liu, Xiaohan, 2024. "Optimizing shared charging services at sustainable bus charging hubs: A queue theory integration approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PC).
    7. Bao, Zhaoyao & Sun, Zhe & Jiang, Yishuo & Xie, Chi & Sun, Lijun & Oliver Gao, H., 2026. "Toward better integration of solar energy in transportation systems: machine learning benchmarks for day-ahead photovoltaic power forecasting," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    8. Luke, Justin & Ribeiro, Mateus Gheorghe de Castro & Martin, Sonia & Balogun, Emmanuel & Cezar, Gustavo Vianna & Pavone, Marco & Rajagopal, Ram, 2025. "Optimal coordination of electric buses and battery storage for achieving a 24/7 carbon-free electrified fleet," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PC).
    9. Jiang, Haoran & Hong, Shaozhi & Wang, Zeling & Yu, Qing, 2025. "Integrated charging scheduling and energy management for electrified-autonomous flexible transit with energy storage systems design," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 392(C).
    10. Yang, Guixiang & Zhang, Hao & Qiu, Lin, 2026. "Grid-friendly battery electric bus charging and swapping scheduling considering charging infrastructure integrated with photovoltaic and energy storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    11. Li, Yanhao & Li, Xin & Qiao, Jingyuan & Zhang, Chengdong, 2025. "Optimal design of bimodal hierarchical transit systems: Tradeoffs between costs and CO2 emissions," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    12. Shivam, Utkarsh & Jakhar, Suresh K. & Kohar, Amit, 2026. "Policy initiatives and socio-economic impact of sustainable transportation: A case study of electric buses in India," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    13. Chen, Haoqian & Sui, Yi & Shang, Wen-long & Sun, Rencheng & Chen, Zhiheng & Wang, Changying & Han, Chunjia & Zhang, Yuqian & Zhang, Haoran, 2022. "Towards renewable public transport: Mining the performance of electric buses using solar-radiation as an auxiliary power source," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    14. Thorne, Rebecca Jayne & Hovi, Inger Beate & Figenbaum, Erik & Pinchasik, Daniel Ruben & Amundsen, Astrid Helene & Hagman, Rolf, 2021. "Facilitating adoption of electric buses through policy: Learnings from a trial in Norway," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    15. Pu, Yifan & Zhu, Rui & Wang, Shu & You, Linlin & Zhong, Teng & Xu, Yanqing & Qin, Zheng, 2025. "City-scale roadside electric vehicle parking and charging capacity: A deep learning augmented street-view-image data mining and analytic framework," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 389(C).
    16. Ajrian, Sahar & Safarzadeh, Soroush, 2026. "Accelerating the green transition in public transportation: A game-theoretic analysis of government policy interventions for fuel cell electric bus adoption," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    17. Kenji Araki & Yasuyuki Ota & Akira Nagaoka & Kensuke Nishioka, 2023. "3D Solar Irradiance Model for Non-Uniform Shading Environments Using Shading (Aperture) Matrix Enhanced by Local Coordinate System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-20, May.
    18. Cui, Ziyu & Fu, Xiaowen & Wu, Xiangru & Wang, Kun, 2025. "Optimal subsidy scheme for electric ship adoption in inland shipping," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    19. Yang, Chengcheng & Jin, Sheng & Gao, Kun & Rong, Donglei & Bai, Congcong & Gao, Xi & Shen, Xinyi & Yao, Wenbin & Jérémie, Adjé Alagbé, 2025. "Collaborative optimization of battery electric bus scheduling and charging considering arterial signal coordination under connected environment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 394(C).
    20. Zhang, Shuo & Xie, Xiaoting & Li, Yingzi & Wang, Yuxin, 2026. "A bi-level joint scheduling model for charging and delivery of mobile charging robots serving for electric vehicles on highway networks under peak demand during holidays," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PD).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:210:y:2026:i:c:s0965856426001977. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.