Isra-Mart srl: Transport minister backs solar powered EV chargers

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Plans to enable electric cars to run directly from renewable energy are set to take a step forward in the coming weeks when a family-run solar panel business launches what is being hailed as the first solar assisted charge point.

Transport minister Norman Baker is expected to cut the ribbon on the solar powered canopy, dubbed eTap, at the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) in east London at the start of July.

Short for 'electricity on tap', eTap is the brainchild of solar panel installation company Use the Sun, which claims that car park owners will be able to make a return on investment by charging drivers by the hour for electricity and from the feed in tariff.etap

The structure consists of a steel canopy covered with 45 photovoltaic panels with a peak power of 9.9kW. Supporting legs are fitted with APT Technology's 3kw evolt electric chargers, which allow the canopy to power six chargers at any one moment from solar and mains electricity.

Use the Sun director Charles Montlake said that owners of the eTap could expect to receive a return on investment of around seven per cent.

"Our aim is to install lots of eTaps around the country," he said. "At the moment, the focus for charging is in urban areas, but I think people will want to charge outside urban areas too."

Montlake predicted that the technology will particularly suit areas where people often spend a few hours out and about in pubs, hotels or shopping centres. Customers can top up and have enough charge to get home.

Despite the fact that the technology is still in the early stages, government and industry have backed solar powered chargers as an innovative way of boosting green transport industries.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport told BusinessGreen that the government is interested in the progression of solar canopies, but refused to say whether it is planning to invest in the technology for its own car parks.

"Infrastructure has a key part to play in putting the UK at the forefront of the green car revolution," she said.

"The emerging plug-in vehicle infrastructure market offers commercial opportunities for companies with innovative technologies and business models, such as the eTap solar powered plug in points. We will watch the development of this technology with interest."

Similarly, Jonathan Visscher, spokesman for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said that the solar powered canopies could boost the green credentials of the transport sector in the long run, although he admitted that none of its members is investing in this kind of technology at present.

"Alongside ongoing enhancement of traditional technologies the automotive industry is undergoing a time of significant change, and the introduction of new refuelling methods is an important part of that change," he said.

"The concept certainly sounds interesting and would help to push the case for greater use of renewable energy, thus making electric vehicle driving even greener."

While some skeptics argue that solar power is too intermittent to reliably recharge an electric vehicle, Montlake said the eTap avoids this problem because the canopy also connects to an onsite building from which it can take electricity when the sun dies down.

"The sun will shine when there are no cars being charged and vice versa. The e-Tap is connected to the host so that when production exceeds demand the extra electricity can be used by the host free of charge. When demand exceeds production the e-Tap will take the extra from the grid."

Under this first deal with CEME, Use the Sun is installing the eTap free of charge and will take 60 per cent of any charging income and the feed in tariff, and then reimburse CEME for the cost of the electricity used by the chargers.

The company is offering landowners the same deal or the option to buy the eTap fully installed and keep all the income.

However, Use the Sun is not the only company breaking into this fledgling market. Surrey-based Infinite Energy has also developed a similar system called Electroport, which can incorporate advertising panels, CCTV and rainwater harvesting.

Infinite Energy managing director Sam Tilley said that no Electroports have been installed, but the canopy has had a lot of interest in the UK and globally.