Reddy, K.S.; Aravindhan, S.; Mallick, T.K. Techno-Economic Investigation of Solar Powered Electric Auto-Rickshaw for a Sustainable Transport System. Energies2017, 10, 754.
Reddy, K.S.; Aravindhan, S.; Mallick, T.K. Techno-Economic Investigation of Solar Powered Electric Auto-Rickshaw for a Sustainable Transport System. Energies 2017, 10, 754.
Reddy, K.S.; Aravindhan, S.; Mallick, T.K. Techno-Economic Investigation of Solar Powered Electric Auto-Rickshaw for a Sustainable Transport System. Energies2017, 10, 754.
Reddy, K.S.; Aravindhan, S.; Mallick, T.K. Techno-Economic Investigation of Solar Powered Electric Auto-Rickshaw for a Sustainable Transport System. Energies 2017, 10, 754.
Abstract
The technologies influencing alternative ways of transportation are augmenting in recent years as the need for transportation is increasing rapidly due to urbanization and motorization. In this paper, a solar powered electric auto-rickshaw (SPEA) is designed and developed for Indian conditions. The developed vehicle is comprehensively analyzed techno-economically for its viability in the Indian market. The performance analysis of SPEA results in an optimal charging rate of 2 kWh per day with an average solar irradiance of 325 W/m2. The discharging characteristics are studied based on different loading conditions. The vehicle achieved a maximum speed of 21.69 km/h with battery discharge rate of 296W at 90kg load and also reached a maximum discharge rate of 540W at 390kg loading with a maximum speed of 12.11 km/h. The environmental analysis of SPEA displayed yearly CO2 emissions of 1,777 kg, 1,987 kg and 1,938 kg using Compressed Natural Gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas and gasoline engines respectively can be mitigated using SPEA. The results of financial analysis of SPEA were welcoming as the investor gets 24.44% lesser payback duration compared to gasoline run vehicle. Socio-Economic analysis of SPEA discussed its significant advantages and showed 18.73% and 3.9% increase in yearly income over gasoline driven and battery driven vehicles.
Keywords
electric vehicle; solar power; techno-economic analysis; carbon emission mitigation; India
Subject
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
