E-MOBILITY
SELF SUFFICIENT SOLAR
Ralph Hoffmeier explains off-grid self sufficient solar charging as a solution to energy availability issues while contributing to CO2 reduction
Captions to go here H
eavy-duty vehicles are responsible for approximately a quarter of CO2 emissions from road
transport in the EU. The numbers are similar in the USA which makes it critical to transition to e-mobility in the trucking industry as fast as possible. Even as government mandates
increase the number of Electric Vehicles on the road, however, there are three major challenges constraining the adoption of EVs for both passenger vehicles and heavy- duty trucks across Europe. First, generating the electricity needed to power all the EVs that are coming, secondly distributing that electricity to where it is needed, and thirdly updating the grid to support the shift to renewable power sources. Current geo-political issues have
significantly affected access to natural gas and many countries are looking
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at rationing energy in the short term. They are also looking to cut fossil fuel consumption in the long term to meet CO2 reduction targets. Moving the transportation sector
from gasoline and diesel to battery- electric propulsion will exacerbate energy availability in the short term and, unfortunately, will not have a significant impact on CO2 reduction as a majority of Europe’s electricity still comes from fossil fuels. In 2021, 76% of Europe’s energy was made by burning gas, oil, and coal. In addition, the grid itself needs significant upgrades - especially in rural areas - to handle the demands of vehicle charging and manage the growing input of renewable energy at the grid. One solution to the problem is
the deployment of off-grid, self- sufficient, charging stations powered by solar energy. While there are many challenges to using solar power to charge vehicles, Energy and Water
Development (EAWD) has a patented solution that meets these challenges specifically for the higher battery capacities in heavy duty trucks. Solar energy has long held promise
as a primary source of electricity for the world’s nations. In theory we could power our entire planet with just 1.1 million square kilometers of solar panels to power the whole Earth, less than the area of South Africa. But in practice, the switch to solar has some significant challenges. One of the first hurdles to
overcome in solar vehicle charging has been the required footprint to harvest the energy. EAWD has created a patented design to gather the energy necessary to charge vehicles day and night. This off-grid, self-sufficient charging station for heavy duty electric trucks generates the required energy and incorporates a comprehensive system to control the charging.
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