Impact of Solar Control PVB Glass on Vehicle Interior Temperatures, Air-Conditioning Capacity, Fuel Consumption, and Vehicle Range

Abstract

The objective of the study was to assess the impact of a Saflex 1 S Series solar control PVB (polyvinyl butyral) windshield on conventional vehicle fuel economy and electric vehicle (EV) range. The approach included outdoor vehicle thermal soak testing, RadTherm cooldown analysis, and vehicle simulations. Thermal soak tests were conducted at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Vehicle Testing and Integration Facility in Golden, Colorado. The test results quantified interior temperature reductions and were used to generate initial conditions for the RadTherm cooldown analysis. The RadTherm model determined the potential reduction in air-conditioning (A/C) capacity, which was used to calculate the A/C load for the vehicle simulations. The vehicle simulation tool identified the potential reduction in fuel consumption or improvement in EV range between a baseline and solar control PVB configurations for the city and highway drive cycles. The thermal analysis determined a potential 4.0% reduction in A/C power for the solar control PVB configuration. The reduction in A/C power improved the vehicle range of EVs and fuel economy of conventional vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Review of Cabin Thermal Management for Electrified Passenger Vehicles

“…The heating effect of solar irradiance can be reduced by different window material and technologies such as solar protection film [73], [74]. An outdoor thermal soak test was carried out to determine the reduction in temperatures by using solar control PVB (polyvinyl butyral) windshield [75]. The analysis concluded that around 4% reduction in air conditioning power capacity could be achieved and EV range increased from 0.7% to 1.5% depending on the driving cycle.…”

The Effect of Solar Reflective Cover on Soak Air Temperature and Thermal Comfort of Car Parked under the Sun

“…(Rugh and Farrington 2008) claimed that typically 50% to 75% of the thermal energy entering the car cabin is due to transmitted and absorbed solar energy from the glazing. Windshield alone accounts for more than 40% of heat transmitted into the cabin (Rugh, Chaney et al 2013). Therefore, the incident solar radiation transmitted through the glass of the car is the main cause of high cabin temperature, it can increase the interiors temperature for the first 15 min at a rate of 1 o C/min (Parker 1988;McLaren, Null et al 2005).…”