Denkendorf, 11.17.2022 – pepper motion GmbH and Sono Motors GmbH, the Munich-based solar mobility OEM, are cooperating on a joint project to integrate a solar retrofit solution for commercial vehicles. As part of this cooperation, a Mercedes-Benz Citaro C1 electrified with pepper technology will be equipped with a customized version of the Sono Motors solar solution – the Solar Bus Kit. The pepper vehicle is therefore the first electric bus to use Sono Motors’ solar technology. Over a period of two years, real data regarding the PV (photovoltaic) system’s energy yields and the consumption data of the assemblies connected to the 24 V battery will be collected and evaluated. The bus will enter the test phase on public roads with pepper customers as early as December 2022.

The PV technology to retrofit commercial vehicles from Sono Motors is now going to be tested under regular driving and operating conditions. After installation on the E-bus provided by pepper, the charging current obtained from the solar system is fed into the low-voltage on-board network (24 V). This means that solar energy is not used directly for propulsion, but by powering the air conditioning system and other auxiliaries, the load on the high-voltage battery and DC/DC converter is reduced, which could result in longer operating times, fewer charging cycles, and lower total cost of ownership. Initial findings from field testing and data analysis are not expected until Q1 2023 at the earliest.

The PV modules installed on the pepper vehicle by technology leader Sono Motors also meet the highest standards in terms of design. They are specially designed for vehicle use, semi-flexible, and highly efficient. The total power of the 14 PV modules installed on the vehicle amounts to about 1.3 kWp (kilowatt peak).

The electrical integration of the photovoltaic modules is handled by Sono Motors’ own MCU (maximum power point tracking central unit), developed for the special requirements of vehicle use. The multi-channel solar charge controller has an intelligent algorithm that optimizes the energy yields of the PV modules. This results in high tracking and conversion efficiency under rapidly changing sunlight conditions. The reliable transmission of solar data from the MCU to the server is ensured via pepper’s highly efficient telematics unit.

https://www.peppermotion.com/en/sono-motors-und-pepper/