County Antrim, Northern Ireland: Genie Insights has a range of solar products custom-designed for commercial vehicles.
The panels charge batteries powering equipment including fridges and tail lifts. New solar panel technology allows easier customisation of panels to suit specific operations.
Genie Insights’ solar panels use Copper Indium Gallium Selenide technology instead of traditional glass-based panels. As well as being lightweight and flexible, the panels are powerful and efficient, even in low light conditions.
The panel technology is particularly robust because it flexes with the vehicle body, and because it does not contain glass, there is no risk of fractures or cracking. The construction also means the panels work even if damaged or partially covered.
Genie Insights will design, install, and support, panels for any type of vehicle that uses battery power.
“The latest CIGS technology allows panels to be lighter weight, slimmer and more efficient than traditional solar solutions,” says Billy Dougan of Genie Insights. “This technology clearly has major benefits but during early trials we realised that a one-size-fits-all solution would have limited appeal as vehicle and trailer configurations vary so much. We have therefore spent 18 months working on a flexible production process with our manufacturing partner to be able to deliver customised products to both trailer manufacturers and operators.”
Solar panels on commercial vehicles have been shown to deliver fuel savings, but Genie Insights believes the greatest benefits come from improvements in battery performance and reliability. As a minimum, the panels keep batteries trickle-charged to prevent loss of power and to minimise the risk of expensive and inconvenient breakdowns, and in some applications can even generate enough energy to be the main source of power. Battery health is also maintained and longevity maximised.
“We have now sold more than 1,000 panels into the UK and Irish commercial vehicle market so have the data to prove that our product performs even in the most northernly climate over the winter months. Even in low light, our panels keep fridge batteries sufficiently charged to avoid battery related breakdowns,” Matt Reeve, Genie Insights, said.
