Chinese company Hanergy unveiled four zero-emission cars powered that can be powered entirely by the sun.
Integrated with flexible and highly efficient thin-film solar cells and modules, the Hanergy zero-emission cars use solar energy as its main source of driving force through a series of precise control and managing systems, including a photoelectric conversion system, an energy storage system and an intelligent control system.
Li Hejun, Board Chairman and CEO of Hanergy Holding Group drove the sporty “Hanergy Solar R” around the event to showcase the company’s latest game changing innovation.
In addition to Hanergy Solar R, the Hanergy Solar series of vehicles also included Hanergy Solar O, Hanergy Solar L and Hanergy Solar A, targeted at different groups of users.
Hanergy’s thin-film solar achievements are already at the bleeding edge of solar efficiency, with the company’s gallium arsenide (GaAs) dual-junction solar cells recently hitting a record conversion rate of 31.6%, and by covering the bodies of these concept electric cars with its thin-film solar modules, the company hopes to bypass “the bottleneck of poor practicality of previous solar-powered vehicles.” The technology had previously been recognized by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the United States for its world’s highest conversion rate on January 5, 2016.
The company also signed a framework agreement with Foton Motor for cooperation in developing clean energy buses with Hanergy’s thin-film cells.
The vehicles feature light weight and maximization of the area covered by thin-film solar cells. Their user-friendly designs enable users to select and manage different travelling and weather modes in a real-time, mobile, networked and smart way. Users can select charging modes in accordance with varied weather conditions through Apps on their mobiles. Moreover, the vehicles are equipped with ultrasonic cleaning technology for maintenance of the solar cells.
According to Dr. Gao Weimin, Vice President of Hanergy Holding Group and CEO of its Solar Vehicle Business Division, the four full solar power vehicles are integrated with flexible GaAs thin-film solar cells, covering 3.5 to 7.5 square meters respectively.
Under ideal conditions, Hanergy’s solar-powered cars can travel about 80 kilometers (50 miles) on a five- to six-hour charge in the sun, equivalent to over 20,000 km (12,427 miles) annually.
Under the mode of routine-day use, the vehicles are able to charge themselves with clean solar energy while traveling, making “zero charging” possible. It alters our inherent concept of “distance per charge” of an electric vehicle.
In the cases of weak sunlight or long-distance travel, the lithium batteries equipped in the vehicles can also get power from charging posts, enabling them to travel a maximum of 350 km (217 miles) per charge.
