Zosi Automobile's R&D release "Special Research on Panoramic Skylight - Monthly Monitoring and Analysis Report on Automotive Black Technology Issue 4, 2024", analyzes and studies the market status of automotive panoramic roofs, dimming technology routes, applications of OEMs and suppliers, patents, and functional trends.
First, the panoramic canopy market is growing rapidly
Although the reputation of the panoramic roof is mixed, its potential to improve the sense of cabin space, reduce roof costs, and create vehicle differentiation is undeniable, and it is equipped with more and more models. From January to May 2024, the assembly volume of panoramic roofs for passenger cars in China was 903,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 80.4%, and the assembly rate was 11.4%, an increase of 4.6 percentage points over the same period in 2023.
2022-2024 January-May China's passenger car panoramic roof assembly volume and assembly rate
Source: Zosi Automotive Research Institute "Panoramic Sky Canopy Special Research - Monthly Monitoring and Analysis Report of Automotive Black Technology Issue 4, 2024"
Pure electric vehicles are more inclined to improve the vertical space through the panoramic roof because the battery occupies more chassis space. From January to May 2024, the assembly volume of panoramic roofs for pure electric passenger cars in China was 632,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 129.6%, accounting for 70.1% of the total assembly volume of the market. Its assembly rate was 33.4%, much higher than the overall market and an increase of 15.5 percentage points over the same period last year.
From January to May 2022-2024, the assembly volume and assembly rate of panoramic roofs for pure electric passenger vehicles in China
Source: Zosi Automotive Research Institute "Panoramic Sky Canopy Special Research - Monthly Monitoring and Analysis Report of Automotive Black Technology Issue 4, 2024"
Second, the panoramic canopy black technology mainly focuses on dimming and color matching, function integration, intelligent control and other aspects
In order to solve the pain points of dimming and thermal insulation performance of canopy glass at this stage and improve the driving experience, OEMs and suppliers have added a lot of black technologies to the panoramic canopy.
From the perspective of patent types, Tianmu Black Technology mainly focuses on three aspects:
- Dimming and color mixing, mainly focusing on dimming glass, automatic dimming, environment-based automatic dimming and color mixing, etc.;
- Functional integration, at present, mainly focuses on the integration with ambient lighting, integration with solar cells, integration with GNSS, etc.;
- Intelligent control, in addition to touch and vehicle machine control, some manufacturers are conducting multimodal research such as gesture control and face recognition control.
Automotive canopy patent keywords
Source: Zosi Automotive Research Institute "Panoramic Sky Canopy Special Research - Monthly Monitoring and Analysis Report of Automotive Black Technology Issue 4, 2024"
3. Panoramic canopy dimming and color mixing black technology
There are four main routes of dimming technology applied to automotive canopy glass: PDLC (polymer dispersed liquid crystal), SPD (suspended particle), DLC (dye liquid crystal) and EC (electrochromic), among which EC and PDLC are the most widely used, PDLC has the advantage of low cost, and EC has the advantage of high efficiency and strong transparency. In 2024, the new ZEEKR 001 panoramic canopy adopts Jingyi Technology's nano dimming technology, marking the mass production of SPD on automotive canopies. The advantages of SPD are stepless dimming and better thermal insulation.
In addition, the black technology or new applications in dimming and color adjustment also lie in:
1. Intelligent dimming
GAC Group's patent for "Transparency Adjustment Method, Device, Electronic Equipment and Storage Medium for Sky Glass" can adjust the transparency of the sky glass according to parameters such as the driver's face image, pupil data, and light intensity detected by the vehicle, so as to improve the dimming efficiency of the sky glass.
Schematic diagram of the flow of the transparency adjustment method of the GAC Group's canopy glass
Source: State Intellectual Property Office, "Transparency Adjustment Method, Device, Electronic Equipment and Storage Medium of Sky Glass CN117984745A
2. Partition control
Deep Blue Automobile's patent for "Partition Cooling Arrangement Structure of Canopy Glass and Automobile" can cool specific areas of canopy glass and improve the comfort of occupants.
The partitioned cooling arrangement structure of the canopy glass in the invention patent comprises a ceiling, a canopy glass on the ceiling and a plurality of air circulation devices; A plurality of cooling zones are arranged below the canopy glass, and the air circulation device corresponds to each cooling zone one by one, and the device has an independent switch state; The air flow of the corresponding cooling zone or cooling zones can be enhanced by opening the specified air circulation device.
Each air circulation device includes a fan, a suction duct and an outlet duct, the fan can make the suction duct inhale air to the cooling area, and make the outlet air duct exhaust air to the cooling zone. Between the ceiling and the canopy glass, there is a space for the arrangement of suction and outlet air ducts, as well as a gas flow channel for air inflow and outlet.
Deep blue car canopy glass partition cooling arrangement structure
Source: State Intellectual Property Office, "Skylight Glass Partition Cooling Arrangement Structure and Automobile CN117901621A"
3. Scenario-based control
AVATAR's patent of "Sky Dome Control Method, System, Equipment and Readable Storage Media Based on SOA Architecture" can adjust the light transmittance of the canopy according to the instructions and scenes set by the user to meet individual needs.
AVATR is based on SOA architecture of canopy control methods, systems, devices and readable storage media
Source: State Intellectual Property Office, "CN116301123A of Sky Dome Control Methods, Systems, Equipment and Readable Storage Media Based on SOA Architecture"
Fourth, the panoramic canopy function is integrated
Functional integration will become the main trend of panoramic skylights, including integrated ambient lighting, integrated solar panels, integrated GNSS antennas, etc.
1. Integrated ambient lighting
The BMW 7 Series and Yangwang U8 achieve the starry sky effect under the illumination of ambient lights by integrating laser engraving small graphics or transparent ink on the roof glass, providing a new idea for the functional integration of the panoramic canopy.
FAW Besturn's patent of "an atmosphere light canopy system with surface sound" integrates LED light strips and actuators on the sunroof glass to provide an atmosphere light canopy with music rhythm mode, and can realize multiple scene mode switching to enhance the sense of technology in the cockpit.
FAW Besturn is a kind of ambient light canopy system with surface sound
Source: State Intellectual Property Office "A Ambient Lamp Skylight System with Surface Sound CN114932855A"
2. Integrated solar glass
By integrating solar photovoltaic cells on the roof of the car, the smart glass roof can realize the function of solar power generation. The resulting electrical energy not only increases the range and charges the battery pack, but also powers other electrical appliances such as electric heaters and in-cabin air conditioners, making the interior environment more comfortable.
OEMs such as Audi, Toyota, Hyundai, and Xpeng have tried to integrate solar cells into sunroofs for power supply for small appliances in cars, and suppliers such as Webasto and AGC have developed panoramic sunroofs or panoramic roofs that integrate solar cells.
Xinyi Auto Parts (Wuhu) Co., Ltd.'s patent for "solar canopy glass" provides a kind of solar canopy glass, which can absorb solar heat for power generation and supply electronic components on the car.
Schematic diagram of the combined explosion structure of Xinyi Automobile's solar canopy
1-Outer glass, 2-Inner glass, 3-Outer PVB, 4-Inner PVB, 5-Solar substrate
Source: State Intellectual Property Office "Solar Sky Glass CN113619228A"
Table of contents of "Panoramic Sky Canopy Special Research - Monthly Monitoring and Analysis Report on Automotive Black Technology Issue 4, 2024".
01
Panoramic canopy special study
1.1 Panoramic canopy market characteristics
1.1.1 Introduction to the panoramic canopy
1.1.2 Development history of panoramic canopy
1.1.3 Panoramic canopy assembly volume and assembly rate
1.1.4 The panoramic canopy is mainly equipped with brands
1.1.5 The panoramic canopy is mainly equipped with models
1.1.6 Price characteristics of panoramic canopy
1.1.7 The main models of the color-changing sunroof
1.1.8 Dimming technology route
1.1.9 Dimming Technology Route 1
1.1.10 Dimming Technology Route 2
1.1.11 Dimming Technology Route 3
1.1.12 Dimming technology route 4
1.1.13 Panoramic canopy industry chain
1.2 Application of panoramic canopy of OEMs
1.2.1 ZEEKR 001
1.2.2 AVATR 12
1.2.3 大众ID.7 VIZZION
1.2.4 Polestar 4
1.2.5 NIO ET7
1.2.6 BYD Seal
1.2.7 Xiaomi SU7
1.2.8 VOYAH FREE
1.2.9 一汽丰田凌放HARRIER
1.2.10 Aion S
1.2.11 Nezha S
1.3 Panoramic Sky Vendors
1.3.1 Fuyao
1.3.2 Saint-Gobain
1.3.3 Guangyi Technology
1.3.4 Webasto
1.3.5 Jingyi Technology
1.3.6 Gauzy
1.4 Analysis of automotive canopy patents
1.4.1 Statistics on the number of patents for automobile roofs
1.4.2 Ranking of patent suppliers and OEMs for automotive roofs
1.4.3 Patent keywords for automobile roofs
1.4.4 Xinyi Automobile Canopy Related Patents
1.4.5 GAC Automobile Skyroof Related Patents
1.4.6 Patents related to Deep Blue Automobile Sunroof
1.4.7 Patents related to Great Wall Motor's canopy
1.4.8 Patents related to AVATR automotive canopy
1.4.9 Patents related to Mercedes-Benz car roofs
1.410 billion patents related to CARX automotive roof
1.4.11 Geely Automobile canopy related patents
1.5 Summary and Trends
1.5.1 Application cases of panoramic roofs of mainstream models
1.5.2 Summary of panoramic canopy suppliers
1.5.3 Trend 1
1.5.4 Trend 2
1.5.5 Trend 3
1.5.6 Conclusions and Recommendations
02
New technology trends for OEMs and suppliers
2.1 New technology trends of OEMs
2.1.1 OEMs-Intelligent cockpit technology trends
2.1.2 OEMs-Energy and Power Technology Trends
2.1.3 OEMs-Body Chassis & AI Technology Trends
2.2 Supplier New Technology Trends
2.2.1 Vendors-Intelligent Driving Technology Trends
2.2.2 Vendor-smart cockpit technology trends
2.2.3 Suppliers-Energy and Power Technology Trends
2.2.4 Supplier-Body Chassis Technology Trends
2.2.5 Vendor-AI and other technology trends
2.3 New technology trends in universities and research institutions
2.3.1 Universities and research institutes - trends in intelligent driving technology
2.3.2 Universities and research institutes - trends in intelligent cockpit technology
2.3.3 Universities and research institutes - trends in energy and power technologies
2.3.4 Universities and research institutes - body chassis & AI technology trends
03
OEM and supplier patent tracking
3.1 BYD
3.2 Geely
3.3 Chery
3.4 The Great Wall
3.5 Extreme Krypton
3.6 Fuyao
3.7 BOE
380 million carrots
3.9 Desay SV
3.10 Huayang