DRIVECO has developed PARASOL®, a 100% autonomous charging station that supplies electric vehicles with solar energy. It is an ideal solution for reducing harmful emissions produced by cars, thereby contributing to the fight against global warming. A unique technological innovation, PARASOL® accelerates the energy transition and supports the development of the electric car in a completely ecological way.
First intelligent solar route to be in Corsica
- 29 January 2020
Corsica is the ideal territory for electric vehicles: on the one hand, the range of the cars, which is about 400 km, corresponds to the size of the island and on the other, vehicles running on renewable energy address the problem of pollution generated by both transport and thermal power plants. Our development programme, which involves installing 70 PARASOLs® for full coverage of the island, would make Corsica the first island in the world where travel would be on a 100% carbon-free basis. But it’s an investment that must be made by the community.
Working with the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), DRIVECO has developed the concept of solar mobility: a solution that guarantees 100% solar charging 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. PARASOL® is a complete charging infrastructure for electric vehicles that produces, stores and distributes its own energy.
The station is powered directly by the 88 solar panels installed on its 150 square metres of roof. The energy produced is stored in its batteries and allows for charging both day and night, even in adverse weather. Charging up to eight vehicles at once, PARASOL® is compatible with all types of electric and hybrid rechargeable vehicles. Surplus energy is fed into the network.
Each PARASOL® is fully autonomous and ecological: it releases no harmful emissions into the environment. It even has a rainwater recovery system for the maintenance and performance optimisation of the solar panels.
Interconnected stations
The DRIVECO Smart Grid intelligently controls charging to make consumption and production simultaneously available. Designed in partnership with CEA-Tech INES teams, this system will modulate the power injected into the electric vehicles to ensure 100% solar charging, at any time of the day.
The PARASOL® are interconnected, functioning as a network within a given territory. This means that when solar energy on one of the PARASOL® is insufficient to charge a vehicle, it will be possible to request energy that has been produced and stored on another of the network’s PARASOL®. Intelligent energy management is thus ensured in real time.
French innovation
After five years of research and thanks to French know-how and innovation in sustainable mobility, in 2016 DRIVECO became a fully-fledged company, which today employs eight people. The first PARASOL® was put into service on 14 March 2016 in Bastia and the second was inaugurated on 11 May 2016 in Ajaccio. With the installation of these two stations, it is now possible to cross Corsica exclusively using solar energy.
Total investment and European funding
The ‘CORSICA SOLE’ project received a total investment of EUR 2 317 528, with the European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 959 339 under the ‘Corsica’ operational programme for the 2007-2013 programming period.