Currently, vehicles powered by electric and hydrogen batteries are very popular in the global automotive world. However, it is different from Germany, which is now starting to debut an electric bus that uses solar or solar technology as its power source.
This solar electric bus was initiated by Sono Motors as an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture) of solar mobility based in Munich, Germany in collaboration with Pepper Motion GmbH as an international OEM for the electrification of new and used vehicles.
Reporting from its official website on Saturday (11/19/2022), Sono Motors demonstrated this solar electric bus based on the Mercedes-Benz Citaro. Where the bus is paired with 14 semi-flexible solar panel modules from Pepper.
Based on German weather conditions, the 14 semi-flexible solar panel modules transfer about 1.3 kW of energy to a 24-volt system. As a result, the energy generated by this installation is estimated at 3.3 kWh per day per year.
Sono Motors CEO & Founder, Laurin Hahn revealed that with the debut of the solar electric bus, he believes that solar electric vehicles will be one of the options for future vehicle choices.
Despite this, Laurin added that his partnership with Pepper is a new milestone project on the way towards Sono Motors’ mission of solar power in every vehicle, as well as a new strategic market entry for the company’s B2B business.
“That’s why we believe that our first electric bus with solar technology is a major milestone for the future of public transportation. Sono Motors and Pepper aim to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles today,” said Laurin.
The project with pepper is the first time Sono Motors has integrated electricity into an electric bus. The solar technology has been developed to transfer solar energy to a 24 volt battery which is used as the main energy source.
This DC bus charger takes over the energy supply when the solar energy supply is insufficient. This means the sun’s energy isn’t directly used for driving but rather powering the HVAC and other ancillary systems.
In this way, there is less stress on high-voltage batteries and DC/DC chargers and can therefore lead to longer hours of operation, fewer charge cycles and a reduced total cost of ownership.
“We at pepper are deeply committed to driving a successful mobility transformation in our society, so Sono Motors is the ideal partner for us as we share our vision of a world without fossil fuels,” said Andreas Hager, CEO of pepper.