METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE ADDITIONAL RANGE GENERATED BY AT LEAST ONE PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL ON AN ELECTRIC OR HYBRID MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for estimating the additional electrically generated driving range of an electric or hybrid motor vehicle comprising at least one photovoltaic panel. The method comprises a route input step (E1), a communication step (E2) concerning the ultraviolet radiation level along the route between an infotainment system and a meteorological data center via an antenna over the internet, a calculation step (E3) of an estimated driving range value, and a display step (E4) of said estimated driving range value on said dashboard. The invention further relates to a computer program whose execution steps reproduce the steps of said method, and to a motor vehicle comprising a battery and at least one photovoltaic panel for at least partially recharging said battery. Figure 1

Description

Title of the invention: METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE ADDITIONAL AUTONOMY GENERATED BY AT LEAST ONE PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL OF AN ELECTRIC OR HYBRID MOTOR VEHICLE

[0001] The invention relates to electric or hybrid motor vehicles in which at least part of the electrical energy comes from solar energy, and more particularly to the estimated autonomy of these vehicles.

[0002] Known from the prior art is a patent application EP3099522 which describes a method for optimizing the charging of an autonomous solar-powered motor vehicle equipped with photovoltaic panels. The vehicle comprises a means for obtaining information concerning the current location of said vehicle, a means for obtaining information concerning the distribution of solar energy in a predefined area, a means for developing a strategy for managing solar energy by said vehicle and a means for authorizing or refusing said strategy. The strategy comprises a schedule for defining when the vehicle must go to a location allowing the vehicle to be recharged. The strategy determines the autonomy required by the vehicle to go to the recharging location and to return from this location. To go to and return from the recharging location, said vehicle moves autonomously.The invention therefore makes it possible to predict in advance the time when the vehicle will need to be recharged and the location with sufficient solar energy distribution to carry out this recharging. However, this method does not make it possible to provide information on the solar energy distribution of a chosen location, for example a location to which a vehicle user would like to go. Indeed, the method is based on the location at which the vehicle is detected. If a trip is planned, the user cannot know in advance which locations will be suitable for recharging.

[0003] The objective of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks by proposing a method capable of determining the autonomy of a solar-powered motor vehicle as a function of the route that said vehicle must travel.

[0004] To achieve this objective, the invention proposes a method for estimating the additional autonomy in electrical energy generated by at least one photovoltaic panel of an electric or hybrid motor vehicle, said vehicle comprising a battery and said at least one photovoltaic panel being configured to at least partially recharge said battery, said photovoltaic panel being configured to receive ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun, the sun emitting a rate of ultraviolet radiation, said photovoltaic panel having an energy efficiency corresponding to the rate of ultraviolet radiation transformed into electrical energy, said vehicle comprising a dashboard and an on-board infotainment system, said infotainment system being capable of communicating with a meteorological data center via an antenna via an internet network, characterized in that said method comprises the following steps: - a step of entering a starting point and an arrival point on said infotainment system, said infotainment system determining a route to be traveled between said starting point and said arrival point by said vehicle; - a communication step between said infotainment system and said meteorological data center by means of said antenna via the internet network to obtain the rate of ultraviolet radiation on said route; - a step of calculating a value of the estimated autonomy of said vehicle in relation to the rate of ultraviolet radiation and the energy efficiency of the photovoltaic panel on said route by said infotainment system; - a step of displaying said value of the estimated autonomy of the vehicle on said dashboard.

[0005] Thanks to the invention, it is possible to determine in advance the estimated autonomy of said vehicle for a given route as a function of the expected rate of ultraviolet radiation.

[0006] Preferably, the energy efficiency is between 7% and 24%.

[0007] These are the maximum energy efficiency values ​​for a photovoltaic panel to date.

[0008] Advantageously, said internet network is an LTE network.

[0009] The LTE network has the advantage of covering the majority of the world's space.

[0010] Advantageously, said internet network is a 5G network.

[0011] The 5G network has the advantage of being faster and more efficient than other existing networks.

[0012] Preferably, said infotainment system comprises a geolocation system, said starting point being determined automatically by the geolocation system.

[0013] Thus, it is not necessary for the user to enter the starting point. Indeed, this is determined automatically thanks to the geolocation system.

[0014] The invention also relates to a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the latter to implement the steps of said method for estimating the autonomy of an electric or hybrid motor vehicle comprising at least one photovoltaic panel previously described.

[0015] Furthermore, the invention relates to an electric or hybrid motor vehicle comprising a battery and at least one photovoltaic panel for recharging said battery, said vehicle implementing the method for estimating the autonomy previously described.

[0016] The invention will be further detailed by the description of non-limiting embodiments, and on the basis of the appended figures illustrating variants of the invention, in which: - [Fig.l] schematically illustrates, in the form of a flowchart, a method for estimating the autonomy of an electric or hybrid motor vehicle comprising at least one photovoltaic panel according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0017] [Fig.l] is schematically illustrated in the form of a flowchart, a method for estimating the additional autonomy in electrical energy generated by at least one photovoltaic panel of an electric or hybrid motor vehicle, said vehicle comprising a battery and said at least one photovoltaic panel configured to at least partially recharge said battery. Indeed, the battery is replenished with electrical energy from a conventional electric charging station, the presence of the solar panel allows an additional addition of electrical energy to improve the autonomy of said vehicle. The photovoltaic panel is a set of photovoltaic cells which are responsible for capturing the ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The sun emits a rate of ultraviolet radiation which corresponds to the quantity of radiation emitted by the sun over a given geographical area.When ultraviolet radiation is captured, photovoltaic cells transform it into electrical energy, and more precisely into direct current. The amount of electrical energy generated by said at least one photovoltaic panel as a function of the rate of ultraviolet radiation corresponds to an energy yield. To date, the energy yield of a photovoltaic panel is between 7% and 24%. Thus, for an energy yield of 15%, the photovoltaic cells transform 15% of the rate of ultraviolet radiation received into electrical energy. Direct current is an electric current for which electrons circulate unidirectionally. Unlike direct current, alternating current is an electric current for which electrons circulate alternately in both directions of the electrical circuit. The electrical energy generated is then transmitted and stored by the battery of said vehicle.Vehicle range is defined as the distance that the vehicle can travel without recharging. The vehicle has a dashboard and an on-board infotainment system. In the automotive sector, the infotainment system usually has a screen, touchscreen or not, allowing the . GPS navigation (acronym meaning "Global Positioning System"), means of wireless connection with a mobile terminal such as a cell phone, and / or means of voice recognition. The infotainment system is capable of communicating, i.e. exchanging information, with an antenna. The antenna is a telecommunications structure whose role is to capture or emit electromagnetic waves in order to communicate with another device, such as the infotainment system for example. The antenna is also capable of communicating with a meteorological data center via the internet network. Advantageously, the internet network is an LTE network (acronym meaning "Long Term Evolution"). The LTE network is a fourth-generation network that has improved the capacity and speed of communication networks between several devices.The LTE network has the advantage of covering the majority of the world's space. In another embodiment, said internet network is a 5G network. The 5G network is a fifth-generation telecommunications network whose capacity and speed are further improved compared to the LTE network. In addition, the 5G network has the advantage of being particularly stable. However, the territory covered by the 5G network is smaller than that covered by the LTE network. During an input step E1, a vehicle user enters a starting point and an arrival point on said infotainment system. From this data, said infotainment system determines a route to be traveled by said vehicle between said starting point and said arrival point.Preferably, the infotainment system comprises a geolocation system for determining where said vehicle is located and considering this location as the starting point. In this way, the user only needs to enter the arrival point. In an alternative embodiment, the user can program other location points between the starting point and the arrival point. During a communication step E2, the infotainment system sends a request to said antenna concerning the rate of ultraviolet radiation on said route. Said antenna receives said request concerning the rate of ultraviolet radiation on said route. The antenna transmits the request to the meteorological data center. The transmission is carried out via the internet network, preferably the LTE network or the 5G network.The data center receives said request transmitted to it by said antenna so that said request is processed by the meteorological data center. Thus, the rate of ultraviolet radiation on said route is determined by processing the data collected by said meteorological data center. A response comprising the information of the rate of ultraviolet radiation on said route is generated. The meteorological data center transmits said response to said antenna. The communication between the meteorological data center and said . antenna is enabled by the internet network. The antenna receives the response previously sent by the weather data center. The response initially from the weather data center is sent to the infotainment system of said vehicle by said antenna. During a calculation step E3, from the information collected in said response, the infotainment system calculates a value of the estimated autonomy of said vehicle in relation to the rate of ultraviolet radiation on said route. During a display step E4, the value of the estimated autonomy of said vehicle is displayed on said dashboard of the vehicle. Thus, the user is informed of the distance that he is able to travel without having to recharge his vehicle.The invention also relates to a computer program implementing the previously described steps of the method for estimating the autonomy of an electric or hybrid motor vehicle comprising at least one photovoltaic panel. Furthermore, the invention relates to an electric or hybrid motor vehicle comprising a battery and at least one photovoltaic panel for recharging said battery, said vehicle implementing said previously described method.

Claims

Claims

1. Method for estimating the additional autonomy in electrical energy generated by at least one photovoltaic panel of an electric or hybrid motor vehicle, said vehicle comprising a battery and said at least one photovoltaic panel being configured to at least partially recharge said battery, said photovoltaic panel being configured to receive ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun, the sun emitting a rate of ultraviolet radiation, said photovoltaic panel having an energy yield corresponding to the rate of ultraviolet radiation transformed into electrical energy, said vehicle comprising a dashboard and an on-board infotainment system, said infotainment system being able to communicate with a meteorological data center via an antenna via an internet network,characterized in that said method comprises the following steps: - a step (El) of entering a starting point and an arrival point on said infotainment system, said infotainment system determining a route to be traveled between said starting point and said arrival point by said vehicle; - a step (E2) of communication between said infotainment system and said meteorological data center by means of said antenna via the internet network to obtain the rate of ultraviolet radiation on said route; - a step (E3) of calculating a value of the estimated autonomy of said vehicle in relation to the rate of ultraviolet radiation and the energy efficiency of the photovoltaic panel on said route by said infotainment system; - a step (E4) of displaying said value of the estimated autonomy of the vehicle on said dashboard.,

2. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that the energy efficiency is between 7% and 24%.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that said internet network is an LTE network.

4. Method according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that said internet network is a 5G network.

5. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 characterized in that said infotainment system comprises a geo- location, said starting point being determined automatically by the geolocation system.

6. Computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the latter to implement the steps of said method for estimating the autonomy of an electric or hybrid motor vehicle comprising at least one photovoltaic panel according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. J. Electric or hybrid motor vehicle comprising a battery and at least one photovoltaic panel for recharging said battery, said vehicle implementing the method for estimating the autonomy according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

Images