There are a variety of smart solutions available, capable of optimizing your solar EV charging system in different ways: from scheduling timed charges to controlling which portion of your solar panel electricity is sent to which appliance in the home. Dedicated smart charging features enhance only the solar connectivity of your EV home charging station, whilst home energy management system (HEMS) apply the same optimization across all household appliances. Additionally, smart charging software found in compatible charging stations gives you greater control over the charging times and energy-s ..read more

There are several ways EV drivers can optimize a homegrown solar system to ensure their EV recharging needs are met. Optimizing a solar EV charging setup ensures that solar panels produce and store enough renewable electricity to cover household and EV energy consumption even on cloudy days and overnight.   The seven most important factors to consider when optimizing your solar EV charging system are:  The capacity of your solar panels – can they produce enough electricity to meet your needs?  The angle and orientation of your panels – are they positioned to absorb maximu ..read more

In short, yes. Solar panels still work on cloudy days and can still be used to recharge your EV. Solar panel technology is improving at a rapid rate and does not require direct sunlight to generate electricity but can instead still provide your home EV charger with free, renewable energy from diffuse light alone.   Still, it’s important to note that solar panel efficiency is greatly reduced in cloudy conditions.  Under light cloud cover, your solar EV charging system will produce around 76% of its maximum potential electricity. In these conditions, an EV recharge which would ty ..read more

It’s easy to understand the appeal of solar power. Unlike fossil fuels, it is available anywhere in the world in enormous quantities and is completely free to use.   However, it is only available during the daytime.  Battery storage systems for solar EV charging ensure that none of the electricity generated by your solar panels during daylight hours is lost or wasted. Instead, it is stored on-site for use as and when you want it, helping to reduce utility bills by a further 30% and providing you and your electric car’s recharging needs with even greater convenience.   Solar pan ..read more

Solar panels are generally very reliable for charging electric vehicles at home. Solar panels can help bring down utility bills as well as your carbon footprint – allowing you to recharge your electric car using 100% free, renewable energy.    Solar panels are weather-tested to a high quality and tend to last anywhere between 25 and 40 years before repair or replacement becomes necessary. Since the lifespan of an average car is about 12 years, your home solar panels could theoretically recharge the next two to four electric cars you’ll own.    The ‘rate of degrad ..read more

Taking a popular electric SUV, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 Long Range AWD, as our example vehicle, which has an energy consumption of 0.179kWh per km, covering the rough global average of 40km per day – be that to the office, the mall, or on the family school run – your EV would consume around 7.16kWh of electricity.   With standard 400W solar panels in a city that receives a worldwide average of 6 hours of sunlight per day, each solar panel would produce roughly 2.4kWh of electricity a day under ideal sunny conditions. Under cloudy conditions, this same solar panelmay only produce 25% of t ..read more

Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations can add a substantial load onto your building’s power supply, often requiring upgrades to your grid connection to prevent overloading it.But while upgrades are usually the first consideration, they may not always be the best solution (or even necessary at all). EV charging load management can help maximize your location’s existing electricity connection by efficiently managing the amount of electricity used by your EV charging infrastructure. Cluster load balancing can help intelligently distribute the available capacity between EV charging stations. By ..read more

Solar EV chargers are no different from regular home chargers for your electric car, with one exception: they can optimize your charging process to use as much solar energy as possible  Solar panels installed on your property collect the energy of the sun and convert it into usable AC electricity. This electricity can either be fed directly into your household electricity network or stored in batteries for later use.   When you plug an EV into your home charger, the charger can then draw this 100% free and renewable electricity from your solar panel array via the grid or your b ..read more

A typical home solar setup comprising of ten 300W panels that receive on average 6.02 hours of peak sunlight per day, produce about 13.5kWh of energy a day.   The average EV has a battery size of about 63kWh and consumes about 0.20 kilowatt-hour (kWh) per kilometer or 0.32 kWh per mile.  How often and how much you need to charge depends on how often and far you drive. The average American drives about 59.5 km (37 miles) a day. In Europe, this average differs per country but is, roughly speaking more than half of the daily distance driven in the US.  So, let’s say an avera ..read more

When thinking about installing DC fast charging stations on your site, careful consideration must be given to designing the site. Many businesses overlook how much the layout, construction, and decoration of a charging site can impact its potential success.   To help you design your DC charging site, we’ve identified six key things to take into consideration: Plan for the long term Locate the optimal charger location Get familiar with installation requirements Consider the customer experience Stand out Develop a fitting revenue strategy This article will explore these considerations in ..read more