WO2017015353A1

WO2017015353A1 - Methods and systems of optimizing energy capture for electric or hybrid vehicle solar panels

Info

Publication number: WO2017015353A1
Application number: PCT/US2016/043112
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dunbar P. BIRNIE III
Original assignee: Rutgers, The State University Of New Jersey
Priority date: 2015-07-20
Filing date: 2016-07-20
Publication date: 2017-01-26

Abstract

A method of optimizing solar energy capture for a vehicle is provided, including the steps of: determining, by a computing device, whether a battery of a vehicle is receiving electrical power from an external electrical power source, wherein the electric vehicle has one or more solar panels positioned on an outer portion of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle; in response to determining that the battery is receiving electrical power from the external electrical power source, estimating, by the computing device, a solar exposure for the electric vehicle over a future period of time; estimating a photovoltaic output value for the one or more solar panels based on the estimated solar exposure; determining whether the battery has capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value; and 15 in response to determining that the battery has capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value.

Description

METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF OPTFMIZING ENERGY CAPTURE FOR ELECTRIC

OR HYBRID VEHICLE SOLAR PANELS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 62/194,529 filed July 20. 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Certain vehicles include solar panels that are used to add charge to a battery during times when the vehicles have sunlight exposure. Typically, these batteries provide energy for powering drive and recovering energy during regenerative braking, as well as for powering other electrical services within the vehicle during travel. Plug-in charging of the battery typically provides a major supply of energy to the system. However, batteries with both grid and solar energy charging supplies can experience conditions where the solar array output is lost because solar energy can only be collected at times when the battery still has space available.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a means by which the battery capacity of an electric or hybrid vehicle with a solar energy charging system is managed to allocate a portion of the battery capacity for solar energy charging of the batteries based on a projected estimate of the photovoltaic output value for the one or more solar panels, which, in turn, is based on an estimate of the projected solar exposure for the electric vehicle over a future period of time.

Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, a method of optimizing solar energy capture for a vehicle is provided, including the steps of:

determining, by a computing device, whether a battery of a vehicle is receiving electrical power from an external electrical power source, wherein the electric vehicle has one or more solar panels positioned on an outer portion of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle; in response to determining that the battery is receiving electrical power from the external electrical power source, estimating, by the computing device, a solar exposure for the electric vehicle over a future period of time;

estimating a photovoltaic output value for the one or more solar panels based on the estimated solar exposure;

determining whether the battery has capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value; and

in response to determining that the battery has capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value, causing charging of the battery by the external electrical power source and by the solar panels to continue at least until the battery has a remaining capacity that is essentially equal to the estimated photovoltaic output value.

According to one embodiment, the solar exposure is estimated by analyzing one or more of the following parameters:

a geographical location;

a time of day;

historical weather data;

forecast weather data;

one or more historical operator behaviors; and

battery state-of-charge.

According to one embodiment, in response to determining that the battery does not have capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value, the method causes charging of the battery by the external electrical power source to stop. According to another embodiment, when the method causes the charging of the battery to stop because the battery does not have capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value, the method further includes the steps of receiving an override instruction from a user; and in response to receiving an override instruction, causing charging of the battery by the external electrical power source to continue.

According to another embodiment, in response to determining that the battery has capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value, the method further includes the steps of:

estimating an updated solar exposure for the electric vehicle over a second future period of time, estimating an updated photovoltaic output value for the one or more solar panels based on the estimated updated solar exposure, and

determining whether the battery has capacity available that exceeds the updated estimated photovoltaic output value.

According to another embodiment, in response to determining that the battery has capacity for the updated estimated photovoltaic output value, the method further includes the step of causing charging of the battery by the external electrical power source and by the solar panels to continue at least until the battery has a remaining capacity that is essentially equal to the updated estimated photovoltaic output value.

According to another embodiment, the method further includes the steps of:

determining one or more actual solar-related parameters;

storing, by the electronic device, one or more of the following:

the estimated solar exposure,

the estimated photovoltaic output value, and

the actual solar-related parameters; and

using one or more of the estimated solar exposure, the estimated photovoltaic output value, and one or more of the actual solar-related parameters to estimate one or more future solar-related parameters for the vehicle.

The present invention also provides systems for implementing the method of the present invention. Therefore, according to another aspect of the present invention, a system of optimizing solar energy capture for a vehicle is provided, wherein the system includes:

a vehicle with one or more solar panels located on an outer portion of the vehicle, and

one or more batteries configured to be charged by an external electrical power source and the one or more solar panels, wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle; a computing device; and

a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the computing device,

wherein the computer-readable storage medium comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to: determine whether a battery of a vehicle is receiving electrical power from the external electrical power source, wherein the electric vehicle comprises one or more solar panels positioned on an outer portion of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle,

in response to determining that the battery is receiving electrical power from the external electrical power source, estimate a solar exposure for the electric vehicle over a future period of time,

estimate a photovoltaic output value for the one or more solar panels based on the estimated solar exposure,

determine whether the battery has capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value, and

in response to determining that the battery has capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value, cause charging of the battery by the external electrical power source and by the solar panels to continue at least until the battery has a remaining capacity that is essentially equal to the estimated photovoltaic output value.

According to one system embodiment, the one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to estimate a solar exposure, include one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to analyze one or more of the following parameters:

a geographical location;

a time of day;

historical weather data;

forecast weather data;

one or more historical operator behaviors; and

battery state-of-charge.

According to another system embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium further includes one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to, in response to determining that the battery does not have capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value, cause charging of the battery by the external electrical power source to stop. According to another embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium further includes one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to:

receive an override instruction from a user; and

in response to receiving an override instruction, cause charging of the battery by the external electrical power source to continue.

According to yet another embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium further includes one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to, in response to determining that the battery has capacity available that exceeds the estimated photovoltaic output value:

estimate an updated solar exposure for the electric vehicle over a second future period of time,

estimate an updated photovoltaic output value for the one or more solar panels based on the estimated updated solar exposure, and

determine whether the battery has capacity available that exceeds the updated estimated photovoltaic output value.

In another embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium further includes one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to, in response to determining that the battery has capacity for the updated estimated photovoltaic output value, cause charging of the battery by the external electrical power source and by the solar panels to continue at least until the battery has a remaining capacity that essentially equal to the updated estimated photovoltaic output value.

In another embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium further includes one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to:

determine one or more actual solar-related parameters;

store one or more of the following:

the estimated solar exposure,

the estimated photovoltaic output value, and

the actual solar-related parameters; and use one or more of the estimated solar exposure, the estimated photovoltaic output value, and one or more of the actual solar-related parameters to estimate one or more future solar-related parameters for the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an example solar panel vehicle system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of charging a vehicle battery according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates example data derived from sunlight analysis according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates example coefficient values according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of charging a vehicle battery according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of example hardware that may be used to contain or implement program instructions according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure is not limited to the particular systems, methodologies or protocols described, as these may vary. The terminology used in this description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope.

As used in this document, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. All publications mentioned in this document are incorporated by reference. All sizes recited in this document are by way of example only, and the invention is not limited to structures having the specific sizes or dimension recited below. As used herein, the term "comprising" means "including, but not limited to."

The following terms shall have, for purposes of this application, the respective meanings set forth below: A "computing device" or "electronic device" refers to a device that includes a processor and non-transitory, computer-readable memory. The memory may contain programming instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to perform one or more operations according to the programming instructions. As used in this description, a "computing device", "electronic device" or "processor" may be a single device, or any number of devices having one or more processors that

communicate with each other and share data and/or instructions. Examples of computing devices or electronic devices include, without limitation, personal computers, servers, mainframes, gaming systems, televisions, and portable electronic devices such as smartphones, personal digital assistants, cameras, tablet computers, laptop computers, media players and the like.

A "solar panel" refers to a device designed to collect radiant energy and transform it into electrical energy.

A "vehicle" refers to a device or structure used to transport people, things and/or the like. In certain embodiments, a vehicle may be motorized. Example vehicles may include, without limitation, cars, trucks, busses, trains, motorcycles, golf carts, forklifts, airplanes, and/or the like.

A battery capacity that is "essentially equal" to an estimated photovoltaic output value is within plus or minus ten percent of the estimated value.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example solar panel vehicle system according to an embodiment. In an embodiment, a vehicle 100 may include a powertrain that generates power to cause movement of the vehicle. Example powertrains may include, without limitation, an engine, transmission, or in the case of an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, an electrically-powered motor. A vehicle 100 may include one or more batteries that store electrical energy and/or supplies power in the form of electrical energy to operate one or more electrically-controlled components of the vehicle such as, for example, automatic windows, automatic doors, sound system and/or the like. In certain embodiments, a battery may be an electric vehicle battery that is used to power the propulsion of the vehicle.

One or more batteries may be in communication with a control system. A control system may control or regulate the distribution of power within a vehicle 100. In an embodiment, a control system may include one or more processors, one or more processor-readable storage mediums and/or the like. In certain embodiments, a vehicle 100 may include one or more solar panels 102. One or more solar panels 102 may be installed on an outer portion of a vehicle 100 such as, for example, on the roof of the vehicle. A solar panel 102 may receive radiant energy, such as for example, sunlight. A solar panel 102 may convert the received radiant energy into electrical power, which may be used to charge one or more batteries of the vehicle. A solar panel 102 may include one or more solar cells 104a-N, each of which may be operable to convert radiant energy into electrical power. Solar cells 104a-N may be arranged in arrays, groupings and/or the like. In some embodiments, electrical energy generated by one or more solar cells 104a-N may be stored, such as, for example, by one or more batteries of a vehicle 100.

In an embodiment, one or more solar cells 104a-N may be in communication with a charging system. A charging system may include an electrical converter that is in communication with one or more solar cells 104a-N. An electrical converter may adjust the output current and/or voltage from one or more solar cells 104a-N. In an embodiment, one or more solar cells 104a-N may include one or more electrical lines that may be used to deliver power to the electrical converter. The electrical converter may adjust the output current and/or voltage to attempt to maximize the output power from the solar cells 104a- N. The electrical converter may in turn deliver the power to one or more batteries. In certain embodiments, a charging system may include one or more processors and one or more processor-readable storage mediums.

In various embodiments, one or more processors may prevent a battery from overcharging by controlling the charging rate of the battery. The electrical converter may be in communication with one or more processors, and may be responsive to one or more instructions provided by the battery control system. The electrical converter may stop providing charge when the battery has reached its maximum safe charge state. In certain embodiments, a battery controller may restrict the rate of charging that is allowed for the battery, which may lead to a reduction of energy capture from the solar cells 104a-N.

In an embodiment, one or more batteries of a vehicle may interface with an external supply of electrical power. In an embodiment, charging may be initiated manually by an operator in a suitably-equipped location, such as a parking space, by plugging the vehicle into an electrical power source. In another embodiment, grid charging may occur automatically through robotic or other automatic manipulation of the plugging-in process of the vehicle such as, for example, by an electromagnetic induction method for transferring power from the grid to the vehicle. One or more processors and/or converters that are responsible for grid charging may be in communication with one or more processors and/or controllers that are responsible for managing the battery state of charge to prevent over charging and to control the rate of charging from the grid supply. In certain embodiments, various system components may provide informa-tion to a vehicle operator about the battery state of charge or about the rate of solar charging.

In an embodiment, a charging system may utilize one or more charging control methods that may take into account various parameters that can influence charging by a vehicle's solar panel or panels. These parameters may include, without limitation, time of day, day in the year, latitude, historical sunlight brightness, historical sunlight in the region, temperature, variability of sunlight in the region, battery capacity, current battery state of charge, plug-in power level, a likely duration of plug-in session and/or the like. In an embodiment, a charging control method may forecast likely future solar panel output for the remainder of a day. Depending on the size of a vehicle's solar panel, one or more charging control methods may be used to save battery capacity in order to be able to accept solar power that may be predicted or expected based on various available parameters. In this situation, plug-in charging may be stopped to preserve the ability to capture solar energy.

In certain embodiments, a charging system may be in communication with one or more remote electronic devices via a communication network. A communication network may be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a mobile or cellular communication network, an extranet, an intranet, the Internet and/or the like. A charging system may communicate with one or more remote electronic devices in order to send and/or receive information pertinent to the charging of one or more vehicle batteries from either grid or solar supplies. For example, a charging system may interface with a Global Positioning System, a thermometer or other temperature sensor, one or more solar panels, and/or the like. As another example, a charging system may interface with one or more databases or storage media that include historical data, weather data, location data, historical vehicle information and/or the like.

Solar panels may collect sunlight throughout the daytime and trickle charge one or more vehicle batteries. However, because sunlight levels are variable throughout the day, and from day to day, it is often difficult to know exactly what a day's sunlight exposure will be. As is described in more detail below, the system described in this disclosure may use historical information, such as historical variability of sunlight at a vehicle's specific location, to establish one or more parameters for predicting a sunlight level for a future part of the day. A vehicle may be plug-in charged from the grid. However, a vehicle's charging control system may stop the grid charging before the battery-full level is reached thus enabling solar trickle charging to continue for the remainder of the day. This approach may reduce grid energy that is needed, and maximizes solar power capture into the battery, and future usage of that solar power for driving and other vehicle system uses.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of charging a vehicle battery according to an embodiment. As illustrated by FIG. 2, an electronic device may determine 200 whether a vehicle's battery has available capacity to accept charging from either a solar array or from the grid. If an electronic device determines that there is capacity available, the electronic device may determine 202 whether the vehicle is currently plugged in to an external electrical power source, such as a power grid, or otherwise receiving a source of electrical power. The electronic device may be a processor or other device located within the vehicle. An electronic device may be in communication with a sensor which may monitor whether a vehicle is plugged into an external electrical power source.

In response to determining that the vehicle is not plugged in, the electronic device may instruct 204 the vehicle's charging system to receive power from the vehicle's solar panel(s) only until one or more batteries are fully charged or until the vehicle is connected to an external power source. Once one or more batteries are fully charged, a charging system may prevent power from one or more solar panels being delivered to one or batteries such as, for example, preventing power delivery from the solar panel(s) to the electrical converter 214.

In response to determining that the vehicle is plugged into an electrical power source 202 (or is otherwise receiving a steady supply of electrical power from an external source), an electronic device may estimate 206 one or more solar-related parameters. A solar-related parameter may be a parameter related to or used in conjunction with determining charging of or power generation by one or more solar panels. Example solar- related parameters may include, without limitation, an expected solar exposure over a future period of time, a photovoltaic (PV) output value for one or more solar panels, location data such as GPS data, weather forecast data, input from a solar sensor of the vehicle and/or the like.

In certain embodiments, an electronic device may estimate 206 one or more solar- related parameters using one or more environmental conditions. An environmental condition may be information about the environment of the vehicle such as, for example, a geographical location, a time of day, historical weather data, forecast weather data, battery state-of-charge, and/or the like. In an embodiment, an electronic device may access one or more databases to obtain one or more environmental conditions. A database may reside in a computer-readable storage medium within a vehicle, or in a computer-readable storage medium remote from the vehicle, but accessible via one or more electronic devices of the vehicle. For instance, an electronic device of a vehicle may access a current time from a clock within the vehicle. But the electronic device may access a weather forecast from a database associated with a remote service provider that is accessible via a communication network.

As an example, an electronic device may estimate a future solar exposure level for a vehicle by considering a current time, a geographic region where the vehicle is located, historical sunlight levels for the geographic region, historical operator behaviors such as parking duration, driving duration and location data, and a weather forecast. For instance, a solar exposure level may be higher for a vehicle that is located in currently sunny environment having a forecast of sun for the remainder of the day than a vehicle located in a rainy or overcast environment having a forecast of minimal sun for the remainder of the day. Similarly, a solar exposure level forecast may be higher for a vehicle in a morning time period than an evening time period.

FIG. 3 illustrates example data derived from sunlight analysis over a one-year period for a particular location. The x-axis presents the integrated sunlight exposure until 10:00AM, and the y-axis presents the sunlight available beginning at 10:00AM and integrating until dusk. The illustrated regression line represents a composite

proportionality coefficient based on historical experience that would allow prediction at 10:00AM of what the likely sunlight would be for the remainder of the day. This sunlight prediction may allow prediction of the likely output power from a solar panel when the charging electronic circuit operates close to the peak-power-point for the solar panel. FIG. 4 shows example coefficient values extracted at other time breakpoints during the day and has a functional fit that would allow for the sunlight prediction for any time during the day.

The electronic device may determine 208 an estimated PV output for the solar panels of the vehicle based on the estimated future solar exposure level. For example, referring back to FIG. 3, if a vehicle was plugged in at 10:30AM, an electronic device may determine a sunlight ratio to be 2.324, so if the measured sunlight up to this point had been 1200 Whr/m², a value of 2789 Whr/m² of additional sunlight may be expected for times after 10:30AM. An electronic device may predict an estimated PV output for solar panels based on this information. For example, a solar panel with 100 Watt-peak rating may be expected to yield 278.9 Whrs of energy during the rest of the day. Ideally, this amount of energy would be stored by the vehicle's battery.

In an embodiment, an electronic device may determine 210 whether a battery has capacity available for the estimated PV output. For example, an electronic device may determine an available capacity of a battery by subtracting the amount of capacity that is currently being utilized (the capacity of the battery that is charged), from a total capacity of the battery. An electronic device may compare the available capacity to the estimated PV output. If the available capacity exceeds the estimated PV output, the electronic device may determine that the battery has capacity available beyond that which is needed for the estimated PV output. Otherwise, the electronic device may determine that the battery does not have capacity available.

In certain embodiments, if an electronic device determines that a battery has capacity for the estimated PV output, the electronic device may instruct 212 a charging system to keep charging the battery from both an electrical power source (e.g., the grid), and one or more solar power sources (e.g., one or more solar panels). The electronic device may estimate one or more updated solar parameters based on one or more updated environmental conditions. Because of the dynamic nature of environmental conditions, one or more environmental conditions may change between determinations. For example, a weather forecast may be updated and provide for one or more different weather conditions than previously analyzed. FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of an example method where solar-related parameters 506, future solar output 508, and/or charging instructions 504, 512 are updated after some period of time, such as, for example, in an iterative manner until the battery reaches a fully-charged state.

For example, an electronic device may determine whether a battery has capacity for the updated estimated PV output. If so, the electronic device may continue to instruct the charging system charge a battery from both an electrical power source and one or more solar power sources, estimate updated solar parameters, and use these updated solar parameters to evaluate battery capacity until the electronic device determines that the battery does not have capacity available beyond that which is needed for the estimated PV output.

In an embodiment, in response to determining that a battery does not have capacity for an estimated (or updated) PV output, an electronic device may cause 204 the charging of the battery only from the solar panels. As such, an electronic device may cause charging by an external electrical power source to be halted. For example, an electronic device may cause a solid state transistor device that controls current flow from an external electrical power switch to be switched from an "on" state to an "off state. As such, the vehicle may only receive power from a solar power source until the battery is full.

In an embodiment, a user may want to override cessation of charging by the external electrical power source. A user may instruct an electronic device to continue charging from the external electrical power source by providing one or more override instructions such as, for example, via one or more input devices. An electronic device may receive one or more override instructions and may, in response, cause charging from the external electrical power source to continue.

As illustrated by FIG. 2, the process may end at step 214, or as illustrated by FIG. 5, for an iterative method, the process may end at step 514.

In an embodiment, an electronic device may keep a record of solar collection prediction values (such as, for example, one or more estimated solar-related parameters) and subsequent actual values or measurements of one or more solar-related parameters so that this historical performance data can be provided to the control system and used to provide improved predictions in future situations. For example, an electronic device may determine one or more actual solar-related parameters by receiving such information from one or more sensors, databases and/or the like. The electronic device may store one or more actual solar-related parameters and one or more estimated solar-related parameters, and may use one or more of the stored values to estimate one or more future solar-related parameters for the vehicle.

FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram of example hardware that may be used to contain or implement program instructions according to an embodiment. A bus 600 serves as the main information highway interconnecting the other illustrated components of the hardware. CPU 605 is the central processing unit of the system, performing calculations and logic operations required to execute a program. CPU 605, alone or in conjunction with one or more of the other elements disclosed in FIG. 6, is an example of an electronic device, computing device or processor as such terms are used within this disclosure. Read only memory (ROM) 610 and random access memory (RAM) 615 constitute examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media.

A controller 620 interfaces with one or more optional non-transitory computer- readable storage media 625 to the system bus 600. These storage media 625 may include, for example, an external or internal DVD drive, a CD ROM drive, a hard drive, flash memory, a USB drive or the like. As indicated previously, these various drives and controllers are optional devices.

Program instructions, software or interactive modules for providing the interface and performing any querying or analysis associated with one or more data sets may be stored in the ROM 610 and/or the RAM 615. Optionally, the program instructions may be stored on a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a compact disk, a digital disk, flash memory, a memory card, a USB drive, an optical disc storage medium and/or other recording medium.

An optional display interface 630 may permit information from the bus 600 to be displayed on the display 635 in audio, visual, graphic or alphanumeric format.

Communication with external devices, such as a printing device, may occur using various communication ports 640. A communication port 640 may be attached to a

communications network, such as the Internet or an intranet.

The hardware may also include an interface 645 which allows for receipt of data from input devices such as a keyboard 650 or other input device 655 such as a mouse, a joystick, a touch screen, a remote control, a pointing device, a video input device and/or an audio input device. It will be appreciated that the various above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications or combinations of systems and applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of optimizing solar energy capture for a vehicle, the method comprising:

determining, by a computing device, whether a battery of a vehicle is receiving electrical power from an external electrical power source, wherein the electric vehicle comprises one or more solar panels positioned on an outer portion of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle;

in response to determining that the battery is receiving electrical power from the external electrical power source, estimating, by the computing device, a solar exposure for the electric vehicle over a future period of time;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating a solar exposure comprises analyzing one or more of the following parameters:

a geographical location;

a time of day;

historical weather data;

forecast weather data;

one or more historical operator behaviors; and

battery state-of-charge.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the battery does not have capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value, causing charging of the battery by the external electrical power source to stop.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving an override instruction from a user; and

in response to receiving an override instruction, causing charging of the battery by the external electrical power source to continue.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the battery has capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value:

estimating an updated solar exposure for the electric vehicle over a second future period of time,

estimating an updated photovoltaic output value for the one or more solar panels based on the estimated updated solar exposure, and

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

in response to determining that the battery has capacity for the updated estimated photovoltaic output value, causing charging of the battery by the external electrical power source and by the solar panels to continue at least until the battery has a remaining capacity that is essentially equal to the updated estimated photovoltaic output value.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining one or more actual solar-related parameters;

storing, by the electronic device, one or more of the following:

the estimated solar exposure,

the estimated photovoltaic output value, and

the actual solar-related parameters; and

8. A system of optimizing solar energy capture for a vehicle, the system comprising:

a vehicle comprising:

one or more solar panels located on an outer portion of the vehicle, and one or more batteries configured to be charged by an external electrical power source and the one or more solar panels,

wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle; a computing device; and

a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the computing device,

wherein the computer-readable storage medium comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to:

determine whether a battery of a vehicle is receiving electrical power from the external electrical power source, wherein the electric vehicle comprises one or more solar panels positioned on an outer portion of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle,

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to estimate a solar exposure, comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to analyze one or more of the following parameters:

a geographical location;

a time of day;

historical weather data;

forecast weather data; one or more historical operator behaviors; and

battery state-of-charge.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to:

in response to determining that the battery does not have capacity for the estimated photovoltaic output value, cause charging of the battery by the external electrical power source to stop.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to:

receive an override instruction from a user; and

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to:

in response to determining that the battery has capacity available that exceeds the estimated photovoltaic output value:

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to:

in response to determining that the battery has capacity for the updated estimated photovoltaic output value, causing charging of the battery by the external electrical power source and by the solar panels to continue at least until the battery has a remaining capacity that essentially equal to the updated estimated photovoltaic output value.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed, will cause the computing device to:

determine one or more actual solar-related parameters;

store one or more of the following:

the estimated solar exposure,

the estimated photovoltaic output value, and

the actual solar-related parameters; and

use one or more of the estimated solar exposure, the estimated photovoltaic output value, and one or more of the actual solar-related parameters to estimate one or more future solar-related parameters for the vehicle.