Engineers from the Te Whare Wananga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) on the South Island, New Zealand are investigating the impact of solar panels installed on electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce power grid demand, as the only non-European participant in Horizon Europe’s Solar-Move project.
The Solar-Move project is investigating vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV) across heavy-duty trucks, passenger buses, rubbish trucks, last-mile delivery vehicles, and motorhomes, involving 35 partners in 16 countries.
The Horizon Europe is the European Union’s (EU’s) flagship research and innovation funding program with a budget of $155 billion (USD 108 billion), coordinated by the non-profit Portugese Research and Innovation Institute, and supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on behalf of the New Zealand government.
The UC Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPECentre) team received $452,000 from Horizon Europe toward the new project.
EPECentre Director Dr Hamish Avery said New Zealand’s electricity network was never designed for every house to have an EV and the project enables the engineers to investigate how to reduce some of the new load by incorporating solar power into EVs, along with solar power-assisted charging points.
Specifically, they aim to extend EV driving range by five to 10 kilometres per day; reduce grid dependence by 20% to 50%; and deliver solutions that add additional value for consumers and the power grid.
“The point of this project is to do a formal and rigorous analysis of rules and regulations and how to integrate these new initiatives into existing energy systems,” Avery said.
“Finding solutions that seamlessly fit into everyday life is the easiest pathway to reducing emissions, but behind change is often a lot of work. In this case, we are challenged to investigate how solar-augmented cars and solar-augmented charging stations fit into our rules and regulations and to understand what barriers might need to be overcome.”
Consumer benefits
The engineers will also explore ways solar panels on EVs can benefit consumers, such as charging from panels on stationary EVs to help power homes, or in large parking lots, charged EVs might be utilised to charge a newly arrived vehicle without relying on the supply grid.
A pilot trial of solar-assisted ‘last mile delivery’ vehicles will involve attaching solar panels to UC electric buggies, which are already in use on campus, and can be monitored to see how their range is affected by using panels.
“Getting real-world data is vital to establish a baseline of what we could expect,” Avery said.
Australia gains access to Horizon Europe funding
After successful negotiations with the European Commission, Australia’s access to Horizon Europe has been formally recognised.
Australia will associate to Pillar II of Horizon Europe, which addresses societal challenges in the digital, industry and space; climate, energy and mobility; and food, bioeconomy and agriculture fields.
To date under Horizon Europe, Australian organisations have participated in 239 projects, where nearly one in four individual applications from Australia has been selected for participation in the programme – resulting in a 24.39% success rate.
From January 2027, under a transitional arrangement, Australian entities will transition from third-country rules – where they typically had to self-fund or rely on narrow exceptions for funding – to being treated as ‘eligible entities’ from an associated country.
This will grant them direct, routine access to EU funding under Pillar II on equal terms with EU Member States, such as allowing them to lead project consortia.
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