Solar Powered Car Market

Solar Powered Car Market Outlook (2022 to 2032)

The global solar powered car market is set to surpass a valuation of 90.3 million in 2022 and further expand at a CAGR of 12.3% to reach 288.4 million by the end of 2032.

Sales of solar powered car accounted for less than 1% of the electric car market at the end of 2021.

Report Attributes	Details
Solar Powered Car Market Size (2021A)	US$ 80.7 Million
Estimated Market Value (2022E)	US$ 90.3 Million
Forecasted Market Value (2032F)	US$ 288.4 Million
Global Market Growth Rate (2022 to 2032)	12.3% CAGR
Americas Market Share (2022)	~ 16.9%
Americas Market Value (US$ Mn), 2022	US$ 9.2 Million
Europe Market Share (%), 2022	~80.5%
Europe Market Value (US$ Mn), 2022	US$ 79.7 Million
China Market Share (%), 2022	~0.2%
China Market Value (US$ Mn)	US$ 0.2 Million
Top 3 country Market Share (%)	~44%
Key Companies Profiled	Hyundai Motor Company; Squad Mobility; Lightyear; Toyota Motor Corporation; Sono Motors; Aptera Motors; Ford Motor Company; Mahindra & Mahindra Limited; Solar Team Eindhoven; Cruise Car Inc.; Trina Solar; Alkè; Solarrolla

Sales Analysis of Solar Powered Car Market Forecast Outlook (2022 to 2032)

According to Fact.MR - market research and competitive intelligence provider, due to increasing concerns about carbon emissions and increasing demand for integration of renewable sources of energy as fuels, the solar-powered car industry is predicted to observe a Y-O-Y growth of 11.9% in 2022.

Consumers with high purchasing power in developed and developing countries have huge demands for car manufacturers that operate on renewable energy. Several governments have devised plans to reduce pollution levels by placing certain limitations on the operation of traditional cars that operate on fuels that produce emissions and increase the environmental carbon levels.

Major automobile manufacturers are investing heavily in the R&D of solar-powered cars. The major concern of solar-powered car manufacturers is the performance statistics and efficiency of solar panels attached to the cars. These two factors are important factors for both types of users, those who purchase it for personal transportation or users who purchase it for heavy operations such as transportation or racing.

New features by companies, both new and old are likely to be the driving factor for the demand and sales of solar-powered cars.

• Short Term (2022 Q2 to 2025): Improvement in the efficiency of solar-powered cars will enhance its demand.

• Medium Term (2025 to 2028): Finding alternative batteries and cells that can perform better than the current batteries and cells will increase the market share of solar-powered cars market
• Long Term (2028 to 2032): Integration of solar panels that have to ability to detect the direction from which the highest intensity of sunlight is coming and turn towards that direction automatically to get maximum output will improve the sales of solar-powered cars

According to the Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, the market is projected to exhibit growth at 12.3% CAGR between 2022 and 2032.

Market share analysis of solar powered car based on car type and region is provided in a nutshell in the above image. Under the car type segment, the Sedan sub-segment dominates with 39.8% market share in 2022.

What’s Driving Demand for Solar Powered Car?

“Features That Make Solar Powered Cars More Favorable than Traditional Electric Cars”

Solar-powered cars get charged automatically by feeding on sunlight. It consists of a powertrain which is very similar to the one found in electric vehicles. The difference between solar-powered cars and electric vehicles is that they do not require a charging structure. Only in cases when there is low light, it needs to be charged at a charging station.

The maintenance and running cost of solar-powered cars is significantly low, and thus is expected to expand at a notable rate over the forecast period. In 2022, the volume of solar cars in the global market is predicted to be 1,646 and the number is expected to grow at 15.2% CAGR. Solar-powered cars work very silently and thus do not contribute to noise pollution as well.

Solar-powered cars are predicted to be even more economical than electric cars, which in turn is anticipated to boost the solar-powered car market.

“Limited Reserve of Fossil Fuels and Worsening Air Quality Index”

It has been observed that 135 million U.S. citizens in 2021 live in counties that have unhealthy levels of air pollution. The US which is one of the biggest economies in the world burns nearly 25% of the globally available coal, 27% of the globally available natural gas, and 26% of the globally available oil, and. Pollution yearly leads to the death of about 100 mn individuals globally

To battle these issues, governments are providing subsidies on electric vehicles to improve the air quality in the region.

Solar Powered cars would be also integrated with a charger in case of unavailability of solar energy, the cars can be operated by charging on the conventional charging technology.

Government subsidies for the adoption of electric vehicles have played a key role in the expansion of the market for electric vehicles. Moreover, all the subsidies are likely to apply to solar cars as well which in turn is expected to propel the solar-powered car market.

What Concerns Should Solar Powered Car Manufacturers Avert?

“High Pricing of Solar Powered Cars”

The prices of solar cars vary between US$ 20,000 and US$ 100,000 which is very high when compared to efficiency at which it operates. The efficiency of solar panels in solar-powered cars is significantly low and solar energy is not used as the primary source of energy for the vehicle.

Solar-powered cars have a high dependency on solar irradiance, as a result, the effectiveness of the solar panels drop down to low levels in extreme cold weather and coastal regions due to heavy rain.

The power generation in solar cars has a high dependency on external factors like the availability of sunlight which varies from region to region and weather.

Due to these reasons, customers may opt for conventional electric vehicles over solar-powered vehicles

“Problems Faced Due to Low Efficiency of Solar Panels”

Solar powered cars are required to be sleek and small in design. This is due to the low efficiency of solar panels that are attached to the cars. Photovoltaic cells have the limitations of operating only in a few particular wavelengths, its in these wavelengths that they can turn light into electricity.

Another issue with solar powered cars is their inability to perform well when they get heated up. Even the most efficient solar panels have the ability to convert only about 23% of incident sunlight into energy.

This is a major restraining factor and can hamper the growth of solar powered cars market. But in order to combat this restrain, research is now being done to increase the charging speed of these cars by 40%.

Country-wise Insights

How Does the U.S. Fare in the Solar-Powered Car Market?

The demand for solar-powered cars in the Americas is predicted to grow at a CAGR of around 13% over the forecast period. Americas highly developed infrastructure followed by support from the government has led to significant growth in the e-mobility industry.

The U.S. accounts for the highest market share in the Americas. It is expected to account for a market share of 76.7% in the Americas in 2022 and is expected to show prominent growth during the forecast period

This predicted growth significantly primarily due to the presence of several major manufacturers that are investing heavily in research activities along with increasing pipelines that are creating a plethora of attractive opportunities for solar-powered car manufacturers in the country.

Will South Korea Become a Lucrative Market for Solar Powered Cars in the Future?

South Korea has always been considered as one of the most technically sound countries in the world. It is now emerging as one of the countries with the highest market share in the solar-powered cars market in the Asia Pacific. In 2022, it is expected to account for over 28.8% of the market share in the Asia Pacific and on a global level, it is expected to account for 0.3% of the market share.

South Korea has constantly been deploying advanced manufacturing technologies so as to optimize its manufacturing process potential. Increased investment in R&D activities and advanced developments in solar cell technology that will enable increased efficiency of solar cell and battery technologies will positively impact the solar-powered car market in the country.

With a growing population and infrastructure and constantly changing economic regulations in terms of emission controls, South Korea is predicted to become a lucrative market for the solar powered car market in successive years. Over the forecast period, South Korea is expected to gain a BPS of 194.

Category-wise Insights

Which Type of Solar Cells is Preferred in Solar Powered Cars?

Monocrystalline solar cells are predicted to account for nearly 86.2% of the market share in 2032. These cells are composed of a single crystal, and the electrons used for the generation of electricity have more space to move.

This feature makes monocrystalline solar cells are more efficient when compared to its other counterparts, due to this, monocrystalline solar cells market is expected to move upwards in the coming years.

Which Battery is Being Used the Most in Solar Powered Cars?

Lithium-ion batteries are hugely popular due to their charging-discharging efficiency, lightweight, and high charge density when compared to other types of batteries. In 2022, this segment is predicted to have a market share of 91.7% and this is only predicted to increase in the future. In 2032, this segment is estimated to have a market value of 282.7 Mn.

Lithium-ion batteries have better performance when compared to their counterparts, they are low low maintenance in nature, and are also environmentally friendly. Due to all these features, lithium-ion batteries are used the most batteries in solar-powered cars and are expected to show high growth over the coming years.

Competitive Landscape

Prominent manufacturers of the solar powered car industry worldwide including Hyundai Motor Company, Squad Mobility, Lightyear, Toyota Motor Corporation, Sono Motors, Aptera Motors, Ford Motor Company are putting emphasis on launching products that are technologically advanced and are grabbing marketing strategies such as acquisitions and collaborations with other market players to help improve production capacities, improve market penetration and gain a larger market share.

Hyundai in 2020, launched Xcient fuel cell trucks in a hydrogen-powered version and delivered seven vehicles to its customers in Switzerland.

In 2022, Sibros, a company that is a pioneer in the field of deep Over-the-Air (OTA) connected vehicle technology, announced its collaboration with the solar-powered car manufacturer, Lightyear. Lightyear will use this collaboration to integrate the OTA Deep Logger of Sibros to get highly precise and real-time vehicle data from all its sensors

Fact.MR has provided detailed information about the price points of key manufacturers of solar powered car positioned across regions, sales growth, production capacity, and speculative technological expansion, in the recently published report.

Segmentation of Solar Powered Car Industry Research

• By Solar Panel :

  • Monocrystalline solar cells
  • Polycrystalline Solar Cell
  • Thin-Film Solar Cell
  • Organic Solar Cell
  • Others

• By Type :

  • Compact
  • Sedan
  • SUVs
  • Vans
  • Others (Mini Vehicles)

• By Category :

  • Pure Electric
  • Hybrid Electric

• By Battery Type :

  • Lithium Ion
  • Lead Acid
  • Others

• By Region :

  • Americas
  • Europe
  • Asia Pacific
  • Middle East & Africa