Basic Study of Hybrid Photovoltaic Vehicles of New Energy

The energy and environment have been two important factors which constrain the development of vehicles nowadays. Hybrid photovoltaic vehicles (HPVs) of new energy not only focus on energy saving and environmental protection, but also have finer successive expansibility. The paper focuses on investigating thermal transients effects, associated to intermittent use of internal combustion engine (ICE), on fuel economy and hydrocarbon emissions of series HPVs. An offline, non-linear constrained optimization is set-up to individuate the ICE power trajectory that simultaneously minimizes fuel consumption, suitably operates the battery and fully exploits daily solar contribution. The results highlight the importance of including thermal transients in HPV energy management. The combined effects of engine, generator and battery losses, along with cranking energy and thermal transients, produce non-trivial solutions for the engine/generator group, which should not necessarily operate at its maximum efficiency.