Pilot solar project launched for Council EV minibuses

A pilot project has been launched to trial a greener method of protecting the running of Denbighshire County Council transport fleet vehicles.

Denbighshire County Council is trialling solar kits on three of its electric powered minibuses to help conserve battery life.

The vehicles taking part in the pilot are Toyota Proace Verso electric vehicle (EV) people carrier which have replaced end of life fossil fuel powered similar vehicles with funding support from the Welsh Government Energy Service.

They have ranges up to 214 miles and are supporting the reduction of maintenance and mileage costs moving forward for fleet. The minibuses are used for local school transport and social care transport.

Currently the Council has one of the highest figures in Wales for the proportion of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) as a percentage of their fleet, at over 20 percent.

Maintenance staff have now fitted the three solar kits to each of the vehicles and officers will be monitoring the impact of the project about the efficiency of the auxiliary batteries in each. Welsh Government’s Energy Service has supported this project with funding.

Fleet Mobility Lead Officer, Martin Griffiths, explained: “We’ve carried out this pilot using these vehicles as they are the ones most at risk from having lack of charge in the auxiliary batteries due to frequency of use. For example, out of the school term, they are less likely to be used and more likely to see the battery power drop.

“This trial of the technology is to see if it will potentially be of benefit to the auxiliary batteries of these vehicles by harnessing the power of the sun to provide a continuous top up for each battery to extend their life and have them fully charged when needed.

“Utilising solar also fits in with our continuing aspiration to reduce the carbon footprint of our fleet service.

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport said: “We are working very hard to reduce our fleet’s carbon footprint by replacing end of life fossil fuel vehicles when the opportunity arises with greener alternatives where it is appropriate for the service need.

“Our fleet service is also committed to looking at innovative ways such as this pilot to strive towards reducing our carbon emissions further.”