Greatcell Solar Italy is collaborating with Worksport Ltd, a Canadian NASDAQ listed company that manufactures high quality, functional, and cost-effective tonneau/truck bed covers for light ‘trucks’, known traditionally as ‘utes’ in Australia. Together we are addressing the application of solar to the Worksport tray covers.
The challenges for electric vehicles are value for money and range anxiety - the fear of running out of battery power before a charging station. Battery recharging technology must be facile and regular for people to stop having range anxiety. The EV needs a ‘security blanket’ to ‘kick & go’ when the main battery is below critical voltage. The solution discussed for a long time is having solar panels on EVs so that they aid the range. However, available space in most EVs is an issue, and except for exotic models; covered in costly solar modules, there has not been a practical solution.
Interestingly, the vehicle most often lampooned as a ‘gas guzzler’ may be a viable marketplace. The ‘truck’ provides ample and ideal space for solar panels. The best solar panel is tough, durable, unbreakable, foldable, and capable of producing power at any light level. The answer, of course, is a lightweight, flexible PSC array covering the complete tray of the vehicle, an array that generates power at the charging voltage even in heavy shade (when the vehicle is parked). And the marketplace is not just the future EVs, as they can also be used on fuel-powered trucks for portable on-demand power.
