Solar panels on truck tackle 'hidden' CO2 emissions | Tilburg University (2024)

From roof to roof

First, let's go back to 2014. Martijn is studying in Tilburg and in his spare time he does car racing and free running. This is a spectacular sport in which you jump up and down walls and clamber up along drainpipes to continue your journey running and jumping from roof to roof. Martijn: "At that time solar panels were coming up. I was well aware of this, because during free running on roofs I had to be very careful not to step on a brand new solar panel. Resting on top of a building, Martin looked down one day. Below him he saw trucks. He suddenly realized how large the surface of a trailer - average length almost 14 meters - is. There was a lot of power to be generated. It was a eureka moment, but a lot of time passed before the first truck with solar panels could start driving.

Keys in hand

Martijn: 'Together with a friend, I looked into it. It turned out there was hardly any information about the power consumption of trucks. Even the big brands didn't seem to have a clue. We had to do a lot of research ourselves. After eighteen months we were able to build the first prototype of solar panels for trailers. The friend with whom I had started the company - called IM Efficiency - left because he had to graduate. Two experienced people came in, who among other things had good contacts in the logistics sector. We approached transport companies. Two companies agreed to a pilot. I'm still amazed at how much confidence they had in us. "Here are the keys," they said, "go ahead. We could tinker with those trucks. And to think that those cost over a ton each.'

Interchangeable

As mentioned, there is no RV anymore without a solar panel on the roof. But trucks are a completely different story. The panel on the roof of a trailer cannot be made of glass, for example, because it would break irrevocably due to the shaking and vibrating of the combination. 'And trucks use a lot of electricity,' Martijn explains. The electricity supply must be very stable, otherwise there will be failures. Then there are the different makes of truck, all of which have their own way of managing the electricity supply. Trucks also drive with different trailers all the time. All that has to be interchangeable. We have developed our own energy management system, for which we have a patent. The whole development process took three years. In 2020 we were ready for the first commercial pilot with ten trucks. By the end of 2021, we went to market. There are now 25 trucks driving around with solar panels. If you consider that there are 150,000 trailers in the Netherlands, that is a huge unused roof area. In addition, there is a great deal of interest from abroad.

Quick payback

The solar panels don't generate nearly enough to run a truck. But that's not the point either. The SolarOnTop's goal is to have enough power for when the truck is not moving. Especially on international trips, drivers leave their engines idling for hours to have electricity for all the electrical devices they use in the cabin. The idling engine causes a lot of "hidden" CO2 emissions. With solar panels on the roof of both the truck and the trailer that charge a separate battery, the engine does not have to be switched on during the (long) wait. When driving, the solar panels relieve the burden on the regular battery in the truck. They also supply power to electrical equipment in the trailer. Martijn: 'All in all, the SolarOnTop saves about 5.5 percent on fuel. That may not seem much, but it's equivalent to 2000 liters of diesel a year per truck. That prevents emissions equivalent to three passenger cars. And it saves the transport company a lot of money. With current diesel prices, the payback period is two to three years. If you compare that with solar panels on houses, then that is very short.'

Fiscal

Martijn graduated in 2016. IM Efficiency had been in existence for two years at that time. Sight of a commercial product was far from a reality at that time. Did he benefit from his studies in International Business Administration? 'Oh certainly. My study was very broad and ran from marketing to finance and strategy. At the same time, in the early stages of IM Efficiency, I developed further in the technical field. Because of that combination, I can now talk to both customers and techies. One day I'm under a truck looking at how best to lay a certain cable, the next day I'm at the table with investors. At the same time, as an entrepreneur I had to deal with things I hadn't learned in college. Like tax matters. In accounting, I did learn about profit tax, but what impact that has on companies and how you deal with the tax authorities, I only got a picture of that once I had become an entrepreneur myself.'

CV Martijn Ildiz

Age: 30 years.

Study: International Business Administration (2011-2016)

Company: IM Efficiency

Opinion: 'During the study, a little more attention to the practical side of business would be good.'

IM efficiency