Air conditioning units are crucial in cars — especially if you live in an area prone to humid and hot temperatures. However the problem with A/C units is that they consume a lot of fuel as they run. Fortunately, researchers from the Polytechnic University (PolyU) in Hong Kong recently announced that they have successfully developed and tested a solar-powered A/C system for vehicles.
Developed in collaboration with industry partners including Green Power Industrial Ltd, the A/C system consists of a photovoltaic module, a solar control system, an air-conditioning control unit, an electrical VFD (variable frequency-driven) compressor, and a cool air and temperature feedback system. The project was devised by Professor Eric Cheng of PolyU’s Department of Electrical Engineering, who designed it to be installed on trucks carrying beverages — we have already talked about the system being used in Coca-Cola’s fleet of vehicles, but this is the first time that the unit has been successfully tested.
had the researchers face any problems with the size of the solar panels on top of the vehicle ? or how could you make such size of solar panel to generate about 1 hp o/p ? because we have a problem here with the big size of the solar panele as we workout on it as a student project in university and we need your expert .. awaiting your reply .. thanks