Performance assessment of solar-powered electric vehicles: Importance of maximum power point tracking, range enhancement and charging frequency analysis under various operating and irradiance conditions

Decarbonizing the transportation sector is becoming a crucial focus in the 21st century. As the popularity of internal combustion engine vehicles declines, the adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) is significantly increasing. One of the main challenges for battery-powered vehicles, aside from safety concerns, is the limited driving range and frequent charging requirements. Integrating a photovoltaic (PV) module onto a vehicle's surface enables continuous battery charging during both motion and stationary periods, thereby extending the vehicle's range on a full charge. This study presents two main contributions: a modified 0.8VOC-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method for fast-changing irradiance conditions for flat-roof vehicle-integrated PV (VIPV) systems, and a long-term simulation analysis of classical MPPT methods using two new indicators for range extension and vehicle charging frequency variations under different irradiance profiles. The proposed MPPT method yielded superior energy performance, achieving 16–25 % higher energy generation compared to both the incremental conductance (IC) algorithm and the variable step-sized (VSS) perturb and observe (P&O) method. Long-term simulations conducted for three EV models demonstrated a daily driving range extension of 2–7 km with an 185W PV module, along with up to a 19 % reduction in charging frequency, depending on the battery capacity and vehicle models.