PV and EV More Than Synergies - Successes in 40 Years
Abstract
It has been demonstrated that the combination of PV + EV technology is a highly efficient renewable energy system that can not only replace dirty old technology (combustion engine), but also eliminates a contaminator that is harmful for both humans and the environment. It has also been illustrated that new markets are offered in the future for all possible combinations of PV + EV technology. The implementation of this smart ecological and economic solution to environmental pollution and political dependency is easy, both at country level and globally. In Switzerland, for example, there are about 5 million cars (ca. 600 cars/ 1’000 inhabitants). With a consump-tion of 12 kWh/ 100 km (BMW i3) and 12’000 km per year, about 1’500 Wp per car are needed, hence an additional installed PV power of about 8 GWp. This is in addition to the 12 GWp aimed at in the “Swiss Energy Strategy 2050” of the Swiss Government up to 2050 . The total of 20 GWp is an improvement of 67% of the 12 GWp goal and seasonal fluctuations in PV electricity can be balanced by hydro storage. As some production goals in the “Swiss Energy Strategy 2050” are not realistic (e.g., 4TWh from geothermal), it is expected that PV will produce about 24 TWh per year in 2050. This is a 3 kWp PV installation per every individual Swiss in-habitant, i.e., a PV surface 15-20 m2 only, which is about 12 times the PV power actually installed in Switzer-land. This PV production goal can be reached by 2050. Globally, there are more than 1 billion cars. If all cars are replaced by EVs and moved by PV electricity, the total PV power needed is around 1’500 GWp, i.e., a surface of 10’000 km2 and 3-times more PV power than currently installed in the world. As in the case of Switzerland, a time frame of 20-30 years is realistic to achieving this PV production goal.