Shanghai-based premium electric-car maker Nio has signed an agreement with solar-panel manufacturing company Longi Green Energy Technology, according to a news report published by CnEVPost on Jan. 3.
Nio plans to deploy the solar panels sourced from Longi at its electric vehicle charging and battery-swap stations in a move to reduce reliance on grid-sourced power for its battery-swap network.
Citing the EV maker, the report said that Nio and Longi plan to work together to promote the use of photovoltaic power at EV charging stations and battery-swap stations. The two companies also plan to work together on vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and the establishment of industry standards for carbon-neutral mobility to help achieve peak carbon and carbon-neutral goals in the transportation sector, the report said, citing a statement from the company.
Citing Nio, it further mentioned that the first Hybrid Passivated Back Contact (HPBC) photovoltaic battery-swap station developed by the two companies is put into operation at the Olympic Sports Center in Xi'an, Shaanxi province in northwest China.
Longi, which is headquartered in Xi'an, is the world's largest photovoltaic company by market capitalization, the report pointed out.
Interestingly, Longi's products are used at Tesla's Giga Austin in Texas, US.
At the Nio Day 2023, which was organized on Dec. 23, 2023, the carmaker had unveiled the fourth-generation of its battery-swap station. The new-generation battery-swap station will be equipped with 23 battery compartments, increasing the capacity to 480 services in a single day and reducing the time per service by 22%.
Nio plans to equip its fourth-generation swap stations with 60 square meters of photovoltaic systems, which will save nearly 18,000 kWh of electricity per year per station, the report said, citing company estimates.
Notably, installation of the new generation of stations will commence in April 2024. The company has been developing battery-swap stations using photovoltaic panels for over two years.
Currently, Nio has a network of more than 2,325 battery-swap stations and 3,603 charging stations in China.
