Toshiba unveils new solar cells that provide 35 km of range for electric vehicles per day

As one of the cleanest energy sources, if it can be used to drive cars, it is not cheap and convenient, and there is no need to worry about energy consumption being exhausted. However, how to convert solar energy into car kinetic energy is a troublesome matter, and the most effective way at present is to use solar power to drive the motor, and then drive the car.

Recently, Toshiba announced the successful development of a new "transmissive copper oxide (Cu2O) solar cell", which is said to provide a vehicle with a range of 35 km per day after installing this solar cell on the hood and roof (measured by electricity consumption of 12.5 km/kWh).

Transmissive copper oxide (Cu2O) solar cells are low-cost, high-efficiency tandem solar cells, which are characterized by two solar cells as bottom modules and top components overlapping together, generating electricity through two modules to improve the overall efficiency.

According to the technology published this time, by stacking transmittive Cu2O solar cells on top of high-efficiency Si solar cells, the overall power generation efficiency can be increased to 27.4%.

According to Toshiba, this solar cell is installed in the case of the hood and roof of the electric vehicle, and the uncharged mileage can reach about 35 kilometers per day.

The electricity consumed by driving is replenished into the battery through solar power, which can achieve a longer distance of driving, that is, in the future, electric vehicles can even continue to drive without charging.

Not only that, the main raw material of the solar cell is the copper and hydrogen compound Cu2O, compared with the III-V group semiconductors, substrates, raw materials, manufacturing equipment are very cheap, is expected to significantly reduce costs.

In addition, the single weight of the solar cell is very light, the weight per square meter is less than 1 kg, even if it is used in the car, there is no need to worry about the weight of the body, of course, due to the fragility of the battery itself, the car manufacturers also have to design special protective components for it.