Webasto and Konarka explore solar automotive applications

Phil Curry - 26 Dec 2011

Automotive company Webasto has recently announced an agreement with solar cell provider Konarka, to use the organic technology in vehicle roofs.

Webasto supplies systems that are fixed into the roof space, often taking up the space of a sunroof. These panels are heavy and prevent light from coming through. Webasto's panels supply power for a vehicle's air conditioning system, or to aid a battery charging system.

The technology is now set to be tested and developed, before being offered as a product by Webasto for the consumer market.

With more emphasis being placed on electric vehicles due to the lower or zero emissions, conserving power while on the move is becoming more essential. Users of electric vehicles in particular have to be careful with their power consumption as charging currently takes up to eight hours.

Solar interest

Kenneth McCauley, senior vice president of sales, marketing and business development at Konarka, says: 'Webasto is a leader in their market space with a lengthy list of customers in the automotive industry. The initial focus of our work with them is to integrate PowerPlastic into roof panels, such as sunroofs, moonroofs, panorama roofs and so on.

'It would be an attractive choice if customers could have a photovoltaic roof panel that coordinated with the colour of their car and, after spending the money for a sunroof, could actually see the sun through that roof. This is where the transparency of PowerPlastic comes into play. PowerPlastic is also quite thin relative to other technologies which facilitates integration into curved structures in applications where minimization of weight is also a key design parameter.'

Jörg Löffler, global vice president of product group efficiency technologies at Webasto, adds: 'We have had extensive discussions with automobile manufacturers on the value of organic solar cells. The main task of the collaboration will be increasing the efficiency of the solar cells to magnitudes suitable for automobiles.'

Webasto is well established in the automotive industry, having supplied to it for over 75 years. It is split into two divisions, Global Comfort Solutions, covering heating, cooling and ventilation, and Convertibles and Roofs, which is dealing with the installation of solar cells.

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