Researchers at Odisha University of Technology and Research in India have created a model for a direct-current (DC) electric motor powered by solar panels. This system uses AI to optimize the solar array’s output, achieving an impressive 88 percent efficiency compared to the 75 to 80 percent efficiency of typical DC motors. These solar-powered motors could one day be used in industrial machines, household appliances, and even electric cars.
How AI played a key role
Bismit Mohanty, the lead author of the study, explains that the main goal was to maximize the motor’s efficiency using available solar power. The AI algorithm plays a big part in this by optimizing the power output from the solar panels. It also enhances efficiency through the motor’s regenerative braking system and a battery that can be charged by both the solar panels and the braking system.
Solar cells have a maximum-power point, which is the highest electrical power they can deliver based on the amount of sunlight. This maximum-power point changes with temperature and sunlight, so the solar cells don’t always output their maximum power. To get as close as possible to this maximum, the resistance of the solar cells needs to be adjusted.
This is where the AI model comes in. Using MATLAB/Simulink, Mohanty and his team trained a neural network to determine the best resistance for the solar cells, based on thousands of daily temperature and sunlight measurements. This AI technique for maximum-power-point tracking helps the system get the most power from the solar array. Because it uses a neural network, it can make accurate predictions but doesn’t explain the exact criteria it uses, working more like a predictive black box.
Solar powered motor
According to the model, when it’s sunny, the solar array generates enough power to run the motor and store extra energy in the battery. When it’s cloudy, the motor runs off the battery instead. The motor’s regenerative braking system also helps charge the battery by converting the kinetic energy from braking into electrical energy. So far, the team has only created a virtual model, but building a real one could be a next step.
This solar-powered motor model could be used in industrial settings or household appliances like refrigerators and fans. Mohanty hopes to see this system in electric vehicles someday, eliminating the need to plug EVs into the power grid.
“Right now, we have to charge electric vehicles at a station or from home,” Mohanty says. “I want a chargeless electric vehicle that takes power directly from the solar array on the vehicle.”
The findings were presented in July at the 2023 International Conference on Smart Systems for Applications in Electrical Sciences.
More About Solar-Powered Cars
Solar-powered cars (SPCs) are electric vehicles that get some or all of their power from solar energy. They use photovoltaic cells to turn sunlight into electricity.
Today’s solar panels on SPCs can add between 15 and 45 extra miles in sunny weather. When the car isn’t using this free energy, it gets stored in the battery.
Just like other EVs, SPCs are great for reducing air pollution and noise, but they also offer more range independence. Companies like Aptera Motors in California and Lightyear in the Netherlands are pioneering this technology, and more are on the way. For example, the 2024 Kia EV9 has a solar panel built into its hood.
There have been some bumps in the road for these companies, and it might be a while before we see SPCs advertised during the Super Bowl.
“This is not like going from flip phones to smartphones, where everything else becomes obsolete overnight,” AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson told CNBC. “This is a decades-long journey from internal combustion engines to electrification, but it’s here.”
In the meantime, there are other solutions. One idea is to power charging stations with clean energy, like the Shell station in England that converted to solar-powered chargers.
Fuel engines, hydrogen engines, and now solar-powered engines. There are so many upgrades in the automotive world. Let’s see what’s one the horizon.