Mesilla Valley Adopts Auxiliary Solar System
Note the eNow solar panel on the roof fairing of this MVT rig. Photo courtesy MVT.
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Note the eNow solar panel on the roof fairing of this MVT rig. Photo courtesy MVT.
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Mesilla Valley Transportation recently purchased close to 1,000 eNow solar auxiliary energy systems for its fleet of Navistar trucks. It’ll be one of the technologies showcased on MVT’s entry in the “Run on Less” fuel economy program next month put on by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.
“We’re always looking for innovative, more effective and efficient ways to operate,” says Royal Jones, CEO and president of MVT. “Our daily idle time is less than 6% on the whole company fleet and we utilize electric APUs 100%.”
The problem is, the electric APUs typically don’t last the full rest cycle for drivers, especially in the American Southwest where much of MVT’s fleet operates. The solar panels help the electric APUs keep drivers comfortable the entire rest period, Jones explains. In addition, “Over time we had noticed shortened battery life and shortened alternator life due to the demand on batteries and the fact that we run eight batteries.”
In testing the solar system from eNow, MVT noted increased daily run time for auxiliary equipment, such as in-cab HVAC; increased battery life from six months to two years; saving approximately 3 gallons of fuel per day from reduced engine idling; and decreased maintenance cost due to reduction in engine idling.
That testing, combined with Navistar’s testing of the eNow system on its CatalIST SuperTruck at Navistar Proving Grounds, led to the purchase of the eNow energy systems for the MVT fleet.
This wasn’t MVT’s first foray into using solar power. MVT had tried making its own system about five years ago, before flexible solar panels were available to the industry, but abandoned the effort when it discovered the loss in aerodynamics created too much of a …Read the rest of this story
