The Foundation for Innovation and Research – Malta (FiR.mt) has successfully carried out the first real-world vehicle-mounted photovoltaic (PV) mobility experiment in Malta, generating empirical data under realistic driving conditions across the Maltese islands.

The experiment focused on the acquisition of high-resolution, real-time solar irradiance data from photovoltaic reference cells mounted on a moving passenger vehicle. Multiple PV orientations and tilt angles were installed to represent realistic vehicle-integrated photovoltaics (VIPV) configurations, enabling the assessment of directional and environmental effects that cannot be captured through static or purely simulated approaches.

During the measurement campaign, the vehicle was driven along representative urban, peri-urban, and arterial routes in Malta. Solar irradiance, PV cell temperature, ambient conditions, and GPS data were recorded and time-aligned, allowing spatially resolved analysis of PV exposure on a moving platform. The resulting dataset provides the first field-validated assessment of orientation- and route-dependent solar irradiance for vehicle-mounted PV systems in Malta.

Preliminary findings indicate significant variations in received irradiance depending on vehicle orientation, time of day, and driving route, highlighting the limitations of simplified assumptions often used in VIPV performance estimation. The results demonstrate the technical feasibility and potential contribution of vehicle-integrated photovoltaics for electric mobility and frugal transport platforms, particularly in Mediterranean island environments with high solar resources.

This experimental activity contributes to ongoing research within the GIANTS project, supporting the development of data-driven methodologies for integrating photovoltaics into future zero-emission vehicle platforms. The work also lays the foundation for future research and innovation actions, including validation of control strategies, system design optimisation, and real-world performance benchmarking for PV-enabled mobility solutions.