Electric vehicles (EVs) can receive a power boost from photovoltaic (PV) panels, but how can users gauge the extended driving range afforded by this technology? Researchers from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, have developed a PV measuring unit to perform this function.

The system includes an IV curve scanner based on a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) as a voltage-controlled electronic load. An 18-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a microchip microcontroller, complete the setup, with the ADC capable of the simultaneous sampling of eight differential input channels at a sampling rate of up to 200 kHz.

“The current is sensed using a high-precision shunt resistor in a 4-wire Kelvin connection,” the researchers explained. “Both resulting voltages are acquired by the first two differential ADC inputs. The remaining 6 input channels are used as general voltage inputs for irradiance sensors and are scanned simultaneously with the IV curve of the PV module.”

The system was integrated with a 192.4 W crystalline PV module mounted to the top of a Tesla Model 3 EV and tested for a two-month period in central Slovenia. The monitoring data was stored in real-time in an application-specific MySQL database, with different driving scenarios being tested under different environments and weather conditions.

[See also: Video: Automotive mobility merges with photovoltaics]

As reported in Solar Energy Material and Solar Cells, the daily energy generated by the PV module contributed an additional driving range of up to 5 km per day, totaling 93 km of additional range in the entire monitoring period.