U.K.-based Sunswap has launched Endurance, an electric transport refrigeration system with integrated battery and solar PV. It is built to fit with a variety of transport trailers and compete with diesel-powered systems.
Endurance is a purpose-built, solar and battery-powered transport refrigeration unit (TRU) developed in-house by Sunswap, which allows for frozen, chilled and multi-temperature configurations. It is described as a shift away from legacy diesel technology for cold storage transport. It was co-developed with customers, maintenance technicians, and suppliers, according to Sunwap.
Lightweight solar panels with high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon cells are integrated into the trailer roof to provide supplementary charging to the batteries. There are four lithium iron phosphate battery sizes. The lightest is 20-25% lighter than the lightest diesel equivalent, whereas the heaviest configuration is 1.2% heavier than the diesel equivalent.
To date 25 trials exposing the system to a variety of conditions, such as long-haul frozen deliveries and frequent door openings, have been undertaken by the likes of Danish freight company DFDS, U.K.-based Tesco and Freshlinc Spalding, as well Dutch logistics company Müller Fresh Food Logistics.
A trial with DFDS resulted in 22 hours of frozen cooling on a single charge over two days, according to Sunswap, while Müller reportedly achieved 100% solar-powered operation throughout the trial period.
Reduced emissions and reduced operational costs during the trial periods have led to commercial orders from several participants, including DFDS and UK-based Samworth Brothers.
Looking ahead, the company is expanding beyond the UK market into Benelux. In countries like the Netherlands, there is strong interest in sustainable transport solutions, according to Sunswap. Earlier this year, it announced a 12-month trial with Netherlands-based TIP Group.
Founded in 2020, Sunswap is based in London.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.