*Important notice: This news reports on an unedited version of an accepted paper and is awaiting final editing. Therefore, the paper should not be regarded as conclusive or treated as established information.
What if electric vehicles could recharge themselves anywhere the sun shines, even away from the power grid? Researchers have taken a major step toward making that vision a reality, developing a solar-powered wireless charging system that could transform how autonomous EVs operate in remote locations.
Study: Design and development of a high-efficiency sustainable wireless charging system for autonomous electric vehicles powered by renewable energy sources for remote locations. Image Credit: Aliaksei Kaponia/Shutterstock.com
By combining renewable energy with contact-free charging technology, the new approach offers a cleaner, more flexible future for electric mobility, while achieving performance levels that could set a new benchmark for the industry. The study was published in Scientific Reports.
Addressing Charging Challenges in Remote and Off-Grid Locations
The growing adoption of electric vehicles is creating increasing demand for reliable and sustainable charging infrastructure.
Charging networks continue to expand in urban areas, but many remote and islanded regions still lack access to stable electricity supplies. Extending conventional grid infrastructure to these locations is often expensive and technically challenging, limiting opportunities for widespread electric vehicle deployment.
Wireless charging technologies offer a more convenient alternative by transferring power without direct electrical contact. Such systems can reduce wear and tear, improve user convenience, and enable fully autonomous charging operations.
Solar photovoltaic systems can generate electricity locally, reducing dependence on fossil fuel-based grids and lowering carbon emissions. Despite its potential, renewable-powered wireless charging requires efficient power management to overcome energy losses and solar variability. In this study, the researchers designed a renewable-powered wireless charging system for autonomous electric vehicles in remote locations.
Integrating Solar Energy with Wireless Power Transfer
The proposed system combines solar photovoltaic generation, advanced power electronics, wireless power transfer technology, and battery charging infrastructure into a single integrated platform.
Electricity generated by photovoltaic panels first passes through a high-gain boost converter and a five-level T-type inverter. The inverter converts direct current electricity from the solar panels into high-frequency alternating current suitable for wireless energy transfer.
The researchers selected an operating frequency of 85 kHz, consistent with the SAE J2954 international standard for wireless electric vehicle charging systems. Operating at this frequency enables efficient power transfer while remaining compatible with existing wireless charging guidelines. The wireless charging architecture incorporates resonant compensation circuits on both the transmitter and receiver sides.
Experimental Validation of a 3.3 kW Charging System
The researchers developed and tested a 3.3 kW wireless charging prototype powered by a 5 kWp solar photovoltaic array installed at the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai, India.
The system integrated photovoltaic panels, a five-level T-type inverter, wireless charging coils, compensation networks, receiver-side rectifiers, battery storage, and FPGA-based control electronics.
Experimental testing demonstrated stable wireless charging under real-world operating conditions. The solar-powered system supplied an input voltage of approximately 220 V and charged a 400 V battery pack at around 8 A. These results confirmed efficient energy transfer from the photovoltaic source to the vehicle battery.
Waveform analysis showed stable inverter operation and efficient power conversion throughout the charging process. The five-level inverter generated high-frequency output voltages of about 400 V while maintaining smooth current waveforms. The resonant compensation network enabled effective power transfer between the transmitter and receiver coils.
The wireless power transfer system produced transmitter and receiver coil voltages of approximately 2.05 kV and 1.8 kV, respectively. Despite the air gap between the coils, the system maintained efficient energy transfer with minimal losses. The compensation circuits operated close to resonance, reducing reactive power circulation and switching stress on semiconductor devices.
The system demonstrated a peak efficiency of 92.6%, exceeding the reported efficiencies in various comparable wireless charging studies. Loss analysis identified the wireless charging coils as the largest source of energy loss. Diode, conduction, inductor, switching, and capacitor losses contributed smaller shares. The findings highlight the importance of coil optimization and improved photovoltaic performance for further efficiency gains.
Compared with existing systems, the proposed design achieved the highest efficiency while maintaining a moderate transmission distance of 160 mm and a relatively simple architecture consisting of only 25 major components.
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Advancing Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure
The study highlights the potential of combining renewable energy generation with wireless charging technologies to support sustainable transportation. The system offers a practical charging solution for electric vehicles in regions with limited or unreliable grid access by combining solar photovoltaic power with high-efficiency wireless charging.
The findings point to the broader potential of combining renewable energy with advanced power electronics and wireless charging technologies. While the study focuses on electric vehicle charging, the same principles could be applied to a range of off-grid energy systems, autonomous transport platforms, and future charging networks. Such technologies may prove particularly valuable in remote communities, island locations, and rural areas, where extending conventional electricity infrastructure can be costly and difficult.
Researchers say future work should focus on increasing charging capacity, improving the performance of solar panels, reducing energy losses during wireless power transfer, and developing more sophisticated energy management systems. Progress in these areas could help improve the efficiency, reliability, and affordability of renewable-powered wireless charging.
With the number of electric vehicles expected to rise significantly in the coming years, the need for sustainable charging infrastructure is likely to grow. The study suggests that renewable-powered wireless charging could offer a practical solution across a variety of settings, laying the foundation for more flexible and self-sufficient transport systems in the future.
Journal Reference
Kaewthep, C., Venugopal, R., et al. (2026). Design and development of a high-efficiency sustainable wireless charging system for autonomous electric vehicles powered by renewable energy sources for remote locations. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/S41598-026-53410-W, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-53410-w
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