Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate the application of solar energy in reducing cabin thermal load. When a vehicle is parked under the sun in summer, the interior temperature can reach up to $70^{\circ}C$ depending on the solar intensity. Solar power, one of the green energies, is used in automobile air conditioning systems, in order to operate the blower. The power supply of a blower's voltage has been used in a solar sunroof experiment. At the climate wind tunnel, cabin temperature changes were conducted with various operating modes of an air handling system and the preventilation parking conditions of several vehicles, outdoors, was also examined. The test results of the solar sunroof, 39.3W power and 14.1% efficiency were obtained. The thermal load behavior was analysed with the air handling system operating mode differently according to the cabin temperature. By simply operating the blower, average cabin temperature decreased between $5^{\circ}C{\sim}10^{\circ}C$ in those vehicles parked outdoors in summer. This reveals that cabin thermal comfort can be improved without consuming the vehicle's extra energy, and that the performance of the air-conditioning system is better than those currently found in vehicles. Moreover, fuel economy will be increased as a result of the reduction in the use of the air-conditioning system, and many other human advantages will be gained. Such advantages include minimized VOCs and a healthy cabin environment.