SONO SOLAR

Sono Motors is pioneering a fully integrated and automotive-certified solar mobility platform designed for commercial vehicles, enabling large-scale deployment of vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV). The solution addresses critical market barriers that have so far limited solar adoption in transport, namely the absence of road-ready, high-voltage solar systems, the lack of automotive-grade power electronics, and the unavailability of certifiable CO2 accounting. The platform combines three tightly integrated technology pillars: i) system-level qualification of VIPV, covering mechanical, electrical and regulatory integration in compliance with ISO and ECE standards; ii) a proprietary high-voltage multi-channel solar charge controller (HVMCU) capable of directly interfacing with 400 V and 800 V vehicle architectures with up to 96% efficiency and >99.9% MPPT accuracy; and iii) a data and telematics layer enabling real-time, verification-ready CO2 quantification aligned with EU tools such as VECTO and compatible with carbon certification schemes including VCS and Gold Standard. Unlike existing low-voltage retrofit solutions, Sono’s approach treats solar energy as a native vehicle energy source, fully integrated into vehicle ECUs and battery management systems. The platform has been validated through more than 30 pilot deployments across buses, vans and refrigerated trailers, demonstrating energy yield gains of 20-30% compared to single-string PV architectures and CO2 savings of up to 5.7 tonnes per vehicle per year. With EIC Accelerator support, Sono will complete system-level validation and scale the platform to TRL 8-9 through multi-vehicle pilots, certification, and industrialisation. The solution enables immediate emissions reduction, lowers energy costs, reduces dependence on charging infrastructure, and opens new value streams through certified CO2 reporting and monetisation, contributing directly to EU climate and transport decarbonisation objectives.