By BusinessGreen / Source: BusinessGreen

aston-martin-

The world’s biggest solar power company Hanergy has renewed its partnership with Aston Martin Racing in a bid to develop the world’s first mass market solar powered car.

The partnership, first announced last year, aims to roll out Hanergy’s thin film solar cells to the consumer car market. The cells could be used to power air conditioning and other functions inside the vehicle, reducing demand on the engine and curbing carbon emissions in the process.

The technology is being developed on an Aston Martin racing car in the hope of improving its performance on the track.

Since the collaboration was signed last June, some progress has been made. The two companies said they can now use the solar modules to charge the main battery of the car. Jason Chow, Hanergy vice president, said the panel could currently produce 75W but this could increase to 300W in the next development phase.

“These are still early days for us, and our work for the following year will focus on maximising power output from panels that can fit a typically sized car roof [of around] one metre squared,” he said in a statement.

Read more @ BusinessGreen