Development of solar structural supercapacitor system for electric vehicle

Abstract

The limitations of the electric vehicles are weight, size, limited range, charging time and high price tag. Thus, the development of a renewable energy-boosting system for EVs is significant. This research proposes the development of the automotive body panels which are capable to generate electrical energy from solar energy and store the energy not only as structural capacitor but also as solar panel. A solar supercapacitor prototype is developed by utilizing Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP), nano Zinc Oxide (ZnO) and Copper Oxide (CuO) fillers as the positive and negative electrodes and a dielectric layer sandwiched between the electrodes. SSC samples are prepared using the solution casting method and characterization is conducted using SEM, XRD and UV-Vis methods in the laboratory Different weight percentage compositions of nano CuO/ZnO filled epoxy reinforced Carbon Fiber and different combinations of separators are investigated experimentally for optimal efficiency. Samples with higher nanoparticle composition can boost both the energy generation and storage performance. Simulation study is conducted on solar supercapacitor concept which is hybrid energy storage system, modelled as the supplementary renewable energy source of electric vehicle. Experiment data from the laboratory scale organic solar supercapacitor using CuO/ZnO doped polymer and carbon fiber are considered as input reference data to design solar supercapacitor HESS in Simulink to generate electricity from solar energy and provide storage. A summary and comparison of the previous and on-going solar supercapacitor researches are discussed and essential experiment data are utilized for simulation of solar supercapacitor in Simulink & ANFIS for validation. Performance of the PI controllers and Fuzzy Logic controllers has been investigated to compare the output of the converters. Sensors and logic system has been proposed to make SSC system IoT based. The proposed hybrid energy storage system meets the power and energy requirements of the EV accessories load and provides accurate power distribution between multiple storage systems. With optimal experiment procedures and better nanoparticles synthesis, solar supercapacitor can have solar energy conversion efficiency about 19-22%, power generation of 2800W/day, power density 33 kW/kg, energy density 130 Wh/kg and capacitance 11.17 μF/cm2 at the temperature range of 25 to 30℃ and solar irradiance (Isolar) 1000 W/m2. However, the performance of solar supercapacitor system heavily depends upon the development of supervisory control logic and power efficiency of converters. Moreover, the efficiency and effectiveness of the SSC system is mainly dependent on the irradiance of the sun.