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Hyundai Cars to Have Transparent Solar Panels Roof from 2019

Solar panels on cars we’ve seen before, especially of concept machines meant to prove solar energy is the way of the future. At times, even actual carmakers the likes of Toyota or the now dead Fisker have tried it on the Prius and Revero, respectively.
Hyundai and Kia cars to have solar panels on roof and hood from 2019 4 photos
Photo: Hyundai
Solar panels to be fitted on Kia and Hyundai cars from 2019Solar panels to be fitted on Kia and Hyundai cars from 2019Solar panels to be fitted on Kia and Hyundai cars from 2019
But what South Korean carmakers Hyundai and Kia are planning from next year is unprecedented in both scale and scope, as pretty much all their vehicles, be it powered by internal combustion engines, batteries or hybrid powertrains will benefit from the new technology.

Hyundai says the goal of fitting solar panels onto the roof or the hood of vehicles will be to generate additional electrical power for the vehicle’s main power source and at the same time cut down fuel consumption levels in the case of ICE-powered cars.

Fitting solar panels on cars has been considered for years as basically useless because of the of the fact that there are only so many square meters which can be used for this purpose.

The Koreans, however, are very confident in their technology and say that, depending on atmospheric conditions, a hybrid’s car battery could regenerate 30 to 60 percent of its power levels during a day in this way.

Hyundai’s solar panels - by the looks of it solar foil - are said to have a capacity of 100Wh, which in the grand scheme of things seems tiny.

But given the fact that a car could essentially spend possibly even five hours under the clear bright sky, that could amount to 0.5 kWh, a little under half of the battery capacity of the Ioniq hybrid, for instance.

For ICE-powered cars, the solar panels will allow for the use of some of the car’s systems using electricity from the sun instead of that produced by burning fuel.

“In the future, we expect to see many different types of electricity-generating technologies integrated into our vehicles,” said in a statement Hyundai’s engineering VP Jeong-Gil Park.

“The solar roof is the first of these technologies, and will mean that automobiles no longer passively consume energy, but will begin to produce it actively.”
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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