Evaluation of a VIPV-Based Solar-Assisted Charging System with Multi-MPPT Control and Shingled PV Panels for Electric Urban Delivery Motorcycles

Date

2026-01-01

Author

Aksoy, Ahmet Hamdi
ÖZSEZEN, AHMET NECATİ
Özden, Talat

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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This study presents the systematic design, multi-surface integration, and experimental validation of a Vehicle-Integrated Photovoltaic (VIPV) system tailored for an electric urban delivery motorcycle. To maximize power density within highly constrained vehicular surface areas, a high-density shingled cell architecture was developed to elevate string voltage and optimize conversion efficiency. Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) was used as a lightweight front-sheet material, providing more stable efficiency yields compared to standard Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)-coated alternatives under fluctuating environmental conditions. To mitigate severe mismatch losses caused by the multi-oriented geometry of the courier delivery box, a multi-channel Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) architecture was commissioned to independently manage heterogeneous irradiance profiles. Real-workd outdoor testing conducted in Ankara, Türkiye, over a cumulative active test duration of 40,980 seconds ( ∼11.4 hours), demonstrated a cumulative energy harvest of 364.9 Wh. This solar gain successfully yielded a 20.3% increase in the battery State-of-Charge ( SoC ) and provided an additional grid-independent driving range of approximately 14.2 km. Despite efficiency fluctuations induced by dynamic urban shading, the integration of flexible shingled PV panels with a tailored power electronics topology represents a promising approach to enhance the sustainability and range autonomy of lightweight electric mobility.

Subject Keywords

Electric motorcycle, multi-maximum power point tracking (MMPPT), PV mobility monitoring systems, Shingled PV modules, Vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV)

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/120624

Collections

Department of Physics, Article