Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are undertaking research to enable (1) vehicles to carry integral solar panels for charging their batteries, and (2) flat glass windows and doors on high rise buildings to capture solar energy.

The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has awarded over £300m in grants via Innovate UK into ultra-low emission technologies. Although no project is currently exploring solar panelled vehicles we would, of course, continue to welcome proposals related to this area in relevant future competitions and are aware the industry is already exploring this technology.

HM Government has funded development of novel photovoltaics for applying on windows and doors. For example, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has provided £1m to Swansea University, the University of Glasgow, and Science & Technology Facilities Council Laboratories for research into thin film solid state dye-sensitized solar cells on glass. BEIS’s Energy Entrepreneur Fund and UKRI have funded research on perovskite solar cells for windows at Oxford Photovoltaics, Nyak Technology Ltd & Centre for Process Innovation Ltd. UKRI are investing £36m in the Active Building research centre in Wales, which investigates building integrated solar energy conversion.