Commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania is making major moves toward electrification by testing a plug-in hybrid truck covered in solar panels.
Scania's solar-powered truck features 100 square meters of solar panels that help generate power for the vehicle, which boasts a mighty 560 horsepower. This impressive array of solar panels is nearly equivalent to a house covered in solar panels, according to CleanTechnica. The company is testing the vehicles on roads in its native Sweden.
The company, among other European automakers, committed to ending production of all diesel engines by 2040.
"Scania's purpose is to drive the shift toward a sustainable transport system," Stas Krupenia, the head of Scania's research office, said in a press statement. "Never before have solar panels been used to generate energy to a truck's powertrain like we do in this collaboration. This natural energy source can significantly decrease emissions in the transport sector. It is great to be at the forefront in the development of the next generation's trucks."
Researchers are also using the truck to study how drastically carbon emissions are reduced by solar power generation as well as how the trucks will interact with the power grid.
Investing in clean energy like solar power and electric vehicles is a vital step in curbing the dangerous overheating of our planet, which is significantly impacted by the amount of dirty energy sources we burn. The average car produces over 10,000 pounds of carbon pollution per year; around the world, passenger cars emit around 3.3 billion tons of carbon pollution every year, so it's easy to see how important it is to embrace clean energy sources like solar power.
"This is an exciting project where academia and industry together try to decrease the climate impact from truck transports," said Erik Johansson, a professor of physical chemistry at Uppsala University. "The results from this unique truck will be very interesting."
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