Road trials will need to bear that out, but no doubt Scania (in cooperation with the Swedish government) wants to better understand the economics, considering that the solar panels would cost well north of $50,000 if installed on a house — and no doubt a lot more on a moving truck. On the other side, big rigs can consume $70,000 worth of diesel per year and last for well over 10 years.
The potential savings aren’t just on the road, however. Scania wants to see if the trailers could provide power to the grid when they’re not in use. After all, each side of the trailer would have around the same surface area as a typical 6 kilowatt home installation.