The North American Council for Freight Efficiency today released a confidence report on solar-panel technology and its applications in trucking operations, from panels designed to charge a truck’s primary and auxiliary battery systems to trailer-related applications such as support for liftgates, telematics devices and reefer units.
The goal of the confidence report is to provide information for fleets and owner-ops to help objectively evaluate the benefits and challenges of solar panels. The 65-page report, available now for download via the page at this link, aims to explain solar applications for tractors and trailers, describe considerations to take into account when evaluating whether to invest in solar panels, and create awareness about the major trends driving and influencing the field of solar technologies as applied to commercial vehicles.
The most common application for panels today comes in support of auxiliary climate control and in-cab power systems designed to function “without adding additional batteries to the truck,” NACFE says, to reduce the need to idle the engine during extended down periods.
Says NACFE Executive Director Mike Roeth, “Battery-powered HVACs are a good solution, but they often can’t” get a driver all the way through an off-duty period, depending on his/her need for electricity. “Solar could be a way to help them get all the way there.”
Solar panels utilized in such applications hold the power to extend the life of the batteries used, one of the key benefits the council identified for mobile solar technology available today, in consultation with what fleets and battery manufacturers have seen with longer-term use.
NACFE found that the other biggest benefit came from avoiding emergency roadside assistance and associated downtime for dead batteries.
