Jurni Leasing has announced a partnership with RS Connect to offer Genie Insights’ solar battery maintenance solution as a retrofit installation service to its minibus customers, aimed at increasing vehicle uptime and reducing battery-related breakdowns.

The fitment of a roof-mounted solar panel provides an ongoing trickle charge to the minibus 12V battery and aims to address the growing issue of schools and colleges suffering from flat batteries due to vehicles standing dormant during holidays.

Jurni runs a fleet of over 3,000 minibuses and RS Connect’s team of 100 electrical engineers will deliver a nationwide retrofit capability for single-vehicle or large-scale retrofit programmes.

Under the partnership, RS Connect will install the tried and tested Genie Insights 50W solar battery maintenance solution to Jurni customer vehicles, which is powered by a solar panel manufactured in the UK by MIPV.  RS Connect is an established Genie Insights installation partner and has already completed more than 2,500 installations of Genie solar solutions across fleets including Network Rail and Centrica. Its engineers are trained to install the system, providing Jurni with the nationwide coverage required to offer the retrofit service across its customer base.

“Minibuses are heavily relied on during term time but can sit unused for weeks during school holidays. These extended periods off the road can compromise battery reliability and leave vehicles unable to start when they’re needed most,” said Duncan Fitzgerald, Chief Operating Officer at Jurni Leasing.

“The solar panels are designed to help fleets combat 12-volt battery drain issues on diesel and electric vehicles to maintain battery health and vehicle uptime whilst reducing vehicle breakdown and rescue costs. RS is the ideal partner as it has the capability and coverage to install panels nationwide,” he added.

John Corfield, Managing Director at RS Connect, added: “The collaboration with Jurni is an exciting one as we will reduce the inconvenience and cost for customers of a flat battery, whilst optimising vehicle uptime for schools, colleges and universities across the UK.”

Laura Reeve, Commercial Director at Genie Insights, said: “Minibuses are a great example of where solar battery maintenance makes sense. They can have periods of intensive use followed by several weeks sitting idle, while onboard electrical systems continue to draw power from the 12V battery.

“We’ve worked with RS Connect on some of our largest fleet retrofit projects, so it’s great to see that experience now being used to make the Genie solution available to Jurni’s minibus customers across the UK.”

Alongside the retrofit service, Jurni will also offer the Genie Insights solar battery maintenance solution on new minibus leases, giving schools, colleges and other education customers the option to improve battery reliability from day one.

The partnership adds another route to market for Genie Insights’ commercial vehicle solar technology, combining Jurni’s experience within the minibus sector with RS Connect’s nationwide installation capability and Genie’s experience in vehicle-integrated solar battery maintenance.

The quiet revolution on commercial vehicle roofs – vehicle solar panels are reducing lead-acid battery replacements and extending their lifespan according to Genie Insights’ MD Matt Reeve  

For decades, lead-acid batteries have been the workhorses of the automotive industry, however battery failure remains one of the most common causes of vehicle breakdowns, with many batteries being replaced long before they reach their maximum potential lifespan. Vehicle solar panels are increasingly helping fleets address this problem.

Today, vehicle-mounted solar panels are helping to change that narrative by maintaining battery charge levels, reducing deep discharge events and significantly extending battery life while reducing the number of batteries that need replacing.

Fleet downtime caused by dead batteries can result in lost productivity, delayed deliveries, and expensive roadside assistance calls.

Solar charging solutions provide a low-cost preventative measure. Many fleet operators are now exploring roof-mounted solar systems not only to support auxiliary equipment but also to maintain battery health and reduce avoidable battery failures.

Lead-acid batteries naturally degrade over time, but several factors can dramatically accelerate this process:

• Prolonged periods of low charge.
• Deep discharges.
• Sulfation of battery plates.
• Parasitic electrical loads while parked.
• Infrequent vehicle use.
• Extreme temperatures.

Along these, sulfation is particularly damaging which occurs when lead sulfate crystals build up on the battery plates during periods of undercharging. As sulfation increases, the battery loses capacity, struggles to hold charge, and eventually fails.

Many modern vehicles continue drawing power even when switched off. Alarm systems, tracking devices, control modules, and onboard electronics can gradually drain the battery over days or weeks. For vehicles that spend extended periods parked, this often leads to chronic undercharging and premature battery replacement.

Vehicle solar panels convert sunlight into electrical energy that continuously tops up the 12 or 24V battery throughout daylight hours. Even relatively small solar panels can offset the vehicle’s standby power consumption and maintain healthy charge levels.

This continuous trickle charging provides several important benefits:

1. Preventing Deep Discharge

A fully charged battery experiences significantly less stress than one that repeatedly falls below recommended charge levels. Solar panels help maintain an optimal state of charge, reducing the likelihood of deep discharge events that shorten battery life.

2. Reducing Sulfation

Because solar systems keep batteries closer to full charge, the formation of harmful sulfate crystals is minimised which means improved battery performance and a longer service life.

3. Supporting Seasonal and Infrequently Used Vehicles

Urban delivery vehicles including those responsible for final mile deliveries and school and college minibuses and welfare vehicles are just some of those vehicles where solar charging helps maintain battery health without requiring connection to mains power.

4. Compensating for Parasitic Loads

Modern vehicles can draw a surprising amount of standby current. Solar panels offset these small but continuous loads, preventing gradual discharge while the vehicle is parked.

5. Extending a Battery’s Average Lifespan

The average automotive lead-acid battery typically lasts between three and five years under normal conditions, but batteries frequently left partially discharged often fail much sooner. By helping to maintain a healthier battery state of charge, solar maintenance charging can extend battery lifespan, with batteries often remaining serviceable beyond five years, particularly in applications where vehicles spend long periods unused. While solar charging cannot eliminate natural battery ageing, it can significantly slow the degradation caused by poor charging habits and inactivity.

For fleet operators, this can translate into measurable savings as reducing battery replacements by just a small percentage across thousands of vehicles can deliver substantial cost reductions in both parts and maintenance labour. 12V and 24V batteries typically cost on average £125 and £300 to replace but it’s the vehicle downtime which is the costly impact for fleets of a battery failure. Recently Mercedes-Benz Vans UK calculated that it costs fleets £1,172.20 per day for every van out of action and more for trucks.

Every lead-acid battery that avoids premature replacement contributes to sustainability goals. Although lead-acid batteries are highly recyclable, extending battery life remains more environmentally beneficial than replacing batteries more frequently. By helping batteries last longer, vehicle solar panels reduce the overall demand for battery production and recycling activities.

Genie Insights has supplied more than 15,000 vehicle solar solutions on LCVs, trucks and reefer trailers in the last few years, incorporating UK-manufactured solar panels from MIPV.  Demand from operators looking to reduce vehicle downtime continues to rise. As vehicles become increasingly connected and dependent on electronic systems, battery maintenance is becoming more critical than ever.

Even conventional internal combustion vehicles now contain dozens of modules that continue drawing power after the engine is switched off. Therefore vehicle-mounted solar charging will become an increasingly common feature across commercial fleets.

In Summary

Vehicle solar panels are proving to be much more than a renewable energy accessory. By maintaining healthy battery charge levels, they are helping to significantly extend the lifespan of lead-acid batteries.

The result is fewer battery failures and unnecessary battery replacements, lower maintenance costs, and a reduced impact on the environment. Battery performance is also maximised as fleets get more value from every lead-acid battery installed.

As the commercial vehicle and fleet industries continue their shift towards smarter, more energy-efficient technologies, vehicle solar panels are emerging as an important tool in the ongoing effort to improve reliability, reduce waste, and extend battery life.

Solar could reduce overall European electricity demand equivalent to powering more than four million homes

Genie Insights is seeing increased demand from UK fleets to fit solar to vans, trucks, and trailers

Solar addresses the growing challenge of increasing demand on vehicle battery power from ancillary systems and equipment

Recent European research commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) has highlighted the significant potential of vehicle-integrated solar technology.

And with over 15,000 solar panels fitted across vans, trucks and refrigerated trailers throughout the UK and Europe, Genie Insights has welcomed the research findings.

The findings reinforce a principle that Genie is already seeing embraced by UK commercial vehicle and trailer fleets that the future of fleet electrification is not simply about larger batteries and more charging points, it is also about generating and managing energy more intelligently on the vehicle itself.

The findings come from the SolarMoves project, which was commissioned to better understand how vehicle-integrated photovoltaic (VIPV) technology could help reduce charging demand and ease pressure on Europe’s electricity grids as transport continues to electrify. It suggests widespread vehicle solar adoption could reduce demand on Europe’s electricity grid by 15.6TWh (Terawatt-hours) annually – enough electricity to power more than four million homes for a year.

Delivered by a consortium led by TNO, an independent Dutch applied research organisation, the project examined the potential contribution of vehicle-integrated solar across a range of vehicle types and operating environments.

As onboard electrical demands continue to increase, fleet operators are facing a growing challenge with vehicle systems such as telematics, cameras, safety equipment, refrigeration units and connected technologies increasing demands on vehicle batteries. At the same time, operators are under pressure to maximise vehicle uptime, improve operational efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

Vehicle-integrated solar offers a practical way to address these challenges by capturing available energy directly from the vehicle’s surface and using it to support onboard electrical systems.

A specialist provider of vehicle-integrated solar and onboard energy solutions for commercial vehicle fleets, Genie Insights has seen first-hand how onboard solar can support battery health and help fleets such as Network Rail and BT manage growing onboard energy demands. They appreciate that reducing energy demand at source and making better use of available renewable energy have an important role to play to support their ambition to reduce vehicle emissions.

Matt Reeve, Managing Director of Genie Insights said: “Electrification is often framed as a challenge that can only be solved through larger batteries and expanded charging infrastructure. While those elements are important, we believe there is an equally important opportunity to generate energy where it is needed.

“Commercial vehicles spend every day exposed to daylight and equipped with vehicle-integrated solar allows operators to capture some of that energy and put it to work supporting onboard systems, improving reliability and reducing unnecessary demand on vehicle batteries.

“Having deployed more than 15,000 systems across commercial fleets it’s encouraging to see independent European research highlighting the potential of an approach that many UK fleets are already successfully adopting today.”

The significance of the SolarMoves findings is not simply the scale of the potential energy generation. It represents a fundamental shift in how vehicles are viewed within the energy ecosystem.

As vehicle technology continues to evolve, Genie Insights believes that integrated energy solutions combining solar generation, battery technology and intelligent energy management will play an increasingly important role in supporting reliable, efficient and resilient fleet operations.

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Genie Insights and RS Connect partnership delivers 2,500 solar panel retrofits for commercial vehicle fleets

Genie Insights and RS Connect have marked a major milestone in their long-standing partnership after completing more than 2,500 solar retrofit installations for commercial vehicle fleets across the UK.

Working together on large-scale van retrofit programmes for organisations including Network Rail and Centrica, RS Connect has become an extension of the Genie Insights installation and support operation, delivering nationwide retrofit capability backed by a network of more than 100 trained electrical engineers.

The partnership enables Genie Insights to support customers ranging from single-vehicle retrofits through to nationwide deployment programmes involving hundreds of installations in a single day.

While RS Connect’s core expertise lies in telematics, camera systems and vehicle electrical installations, its engineers have received specialist training from Genie Insights to install Genie’s solar solutions for commercial vehicles.

The systems are designed to help fleets combat 12- and 24-volt battery drain issues by providing a continual trickle charge to maintain battery health and vehicle uptime.

Beyond installation capacity, the relationship between the two businesses has evolved into a highly collaborative technical partnership. RS Connect works closely with Genie Insights to develop and document bespoke installation procedures for new vehicle makes and models where standard fitting methods are unsuitable, helping ensure consistency across fleet deployments.

Detailed installation guides and quality control processes have also been jointly developed to maintain solar installation standards across every retrofit programme.

Laura Reeve, Commercial Director at Genie Insights, said: “RS Connect is a genuine extension of the Genie team. Their engineers represent our brand on customer sites every day, so having a partner that shares our standards around quality, professionalism and customer service is incredibly important.

“The relationship goes far beyond simply carrying out installations. Their operational and technical teams collaborate closely with us to solve challenges and help us deliver a consistent service nationwide. Reaching 2,500 installations together is a fantastic milestone and reflects the strength of the partnership we’ve built.”

John Corfield, Managing Director at RS Connect, added: “Our engineers are used to delivering high-quality electrical installations in demanding fleet environments, so working alongside Genie Insights has been a natural fit.

“The collaboration between both teams has been excellent from day one. Together we’ve developed installation processes that allow customers to implement solar retrofit programmes efficiently and consistently, whether that’s a handful of vehicles or a major nationwide roll out.”

Solar panels on the roof of refrigerated trailers (reefers) are now a common sight on UK roads. Operators are fitting them to provide a trickle charge to keep the transport refrigeration unit battery topped up and to extend the life of the battery as it copes with increased parasitic draw from telematics, temperature monitoring systems, and fridge controllers.

Solar power and reefer trailers work hand in hand with each other, as the more power they need to keep goods cool in the summer, the more power panels can generate from longer daylight hours.

Genie Insights has supplied and installed over 7,000 solar panels on reefer trailers, including some of the UK’s leading refrigerated transport operators and supermarkets. Operators go for the high-voltage 50W panels, and this approach is working as Genie reported a zero percent fridge battery fail rate in vehicles fitted with its panels in 2025.

For the cost of a service callout, solar panels can be supplied and installed on a reefer trailer roof, and once in place, they look after themselves. In line with the trailer’s three or six-month servicing schedules, a technician simply hooks up to the solar panel controller via Bluetooth to check performance and health.

Solar charge controllers and inverters use a technique called Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) to extract maximum power from solar panels by dynamically adjusting the electrical operating point as sunlight conditions vary. MPPT optimises voltage and current, particularly in cloudy or shaded conditions, and by doubling the cells on panels by increasing surface area, Genie has further boosted panel productivity to cope with low light conditions.

Two big solar growth areas currently are on electric trucks and rigid trucks working in the catering and food service industries.

Genie is fitting larger solar arrays of up to 300W to 18-tonne rigid trucks in the food service sector for companies such as Reynolds Catering and Sysco, as their 24V batteries come under increased stress from ancillary equipment such as tail lifts and air curtains drawing power from the vehicle battery. These vans and trucks operate on short stop start journeys which puts increased stress on the fridge motor, the vehicle battery, and alternator, which is where solar energy comes into its own by keeping vehicle downtime to a minimum.

To find out how Genie Insights can help protect your fleet from unnecessary callouts and battery-related breakdowns, contact us to discuss the right solar solution for your operation.

info@genieinsights.com