Industrial design - Sustainability - Renewable energy
17 November - 18 December 2016 Solo project
Solar drape is a car cover that enables electric cars to be recharges everywhere thanks to amorphous solar cells embedded in the fabric. The work was developed during an academic collaboration with Kia motors. The cover was designed to be an accessory in the Kia's world, but it can work with all other electric cars too. Toyota and Ford already experimented solar roofs in their cars, but it was a market failure because of the small area available that wasn't enough for running the car and because the cost of solar panels was still very high in 2014 when they were launched. A study was made to find the suitable solar panel type in terms of weight, electricity yields and flexibility. Uni-solar amorphous structure solar cells were the best fit in 2017. Solar drape can protect the car from atmospheric agents during the day, and at the same time help the environment and the pockets of the customer. I also designed a rigid case with an alarm system for the charge regulator that is necessary to transform the 12 Vdc of the solar panel into the 120 Vac needed by any electric car to be charged.