High time resolution measurement of solar irradiance onto driving car body for vehicle integrated photovoltaics

Abstract Vehicle integrated photovoltaic (VIPV) systems have much different requirements on maximum power tracking compared to stationary setups. The occurrence of fast changes between full irradiance and shading are demanding. To evaluate the specific impact of these conditions on the specifications of VIPV systems, we conduct high resolution measurements of the incident irradiance onto a car body while driving. We investigate the influence of environmental conditions like weather, season and building density in an urban environment on measured irradiance on the roof and the sides of a vehicle. We find that weather conditions have the highest impact on the measured irradiance on the roof, while the relative irradiance on the side depends more heavily on the season. We also find that changes in irradiance occur predominantly at frequencies below 1 Hz, but changes with 100 Hz or more can occur in certain situations, with a tendency toward higher frequencies for sunny weather. This must be considered in maximum power point tracker design.