Impact of Solar Control PVB Glass on Vehicle Interior Temperatures, Air-Conditioning Capacity, Fuel Consumption, and Vehicle Range

The objective of the study was to assess the impact of a Saflex¹ S Series solar control PVB (polyvinyl butyral) windshield on conventional vehicle fuel economy and electric vehicle (EV) range. The approach included outdoor vehicle thermal soak testing, RadTherm cooldown analysis, and vehicle simulations. Thermal soak tests were conducted at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Vehicle Testing and Integration Facility in Golden, Colorado. The test results quantified interior temperature reductions and were used to generate initial conditions for the RadTherm cooldown analysis. The RadTherm model determined the potential reduction in air-conditioning (A/C) capacity, which was used to calculate the A/C load for the vehicle simulations. The vehicle simulation tool identified the potential reduction in fuel consumption or improvement in EV range between a baseline and solar control PVB configurations for the city and highway drive cycles. The thermal analysis determined a potential 4.0% reduction in A/C power for the solar control PVB configuration. The reduction in A/C power improved the vehicle range of EVs and fuel economy of conventional vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.