Can you charge your car with solar energy?

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Last Updated: 6/4/2023EVBox

Our world’s reliance on fossil fuels has increasingly been called into question in recent years, from environmental, supply, and geopolitical perspectives. To address these issues, many countries are working to reduce fossil fuel use, including in the transportation sector, where electric mobility has become a dominant trend.

As a result, electric vehicle (EV) sales have surged over the past decade. While only 120,000 electric cars were sold worldwide in 2012, by 2021, that number was being sold weekly. This growth in electric mobility already offsets the use of approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, but it also significantly increases electricity demand.

At the same time, a key challenge is producing enough electricity sustainably. Indeed, the environmental impact of EVs is largely determined by their manufacturing and the source of the electricity used to power them. This makes it critical to boost renewable energy production, with solar energy being one of the most popular renewable sources for homes. This article explains what solar energy is and how you can use it to charge your electric vehicle.

Can you charge your electric vehicle with solar energy?

Yes, you can (and you don’t even need a smart charging feature to do so). However, before diving into how it works and what smart charging can add, let’s first take a closer look at what solar energy is.

What is solar energy?

When people talk about solar energy, most imagine solar panels installed on rooftops. However, this is technically distinct from solar energy in a scientific sense. Simply put, solar energy refers to the energy emitted by the sun, a portion of which reaches Earth. This energy can be harnessed to generate electricity through a process called photovoltaics.

A photovoltaic (PV) panel, commonly known as a solar panel, consists of hundreds of solar cells, each made of a semiconductor (usually silicon). This semiconductor absorbs sunlight and converts it into electricity by creating a current—a flow of electrons. This electricity can power a home or business or be fed back into the grid.

This photovoltaic process is what we commonly refer to as “solar energy,” at least in the context of home energy production. In this article, we also use the common term “solar panels” to refer to photovoltaic panels.

The growing popularity of solar panels

It’s easy to see the appeal of solar energy. Unlike fossil fuels, it’s available worldwide in vast quantities and is completely free to use. It’s no surprise that global solar capacity doubled between 2018 and 2022, reaching one terawatt (TW). By 2025, global solar capacity is expected to reach 2.3 TW—for context, that’s twice the combined energy production of France and Germany.

This growth is partly driven by individuals and households installing small-scale solar panels on their rooftops to become more independent from the grid, reduce energy costs, and lower their carbon footprint.

In some parts of the world, solar energy production also provides access to electricity for those who previously lacked it. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, it could be transformative in expanding energy access to millions of people.

How does solar energy work with home EV charging?

While solar panels alone can significantly reduce costs, pairing them with an electric vehicle can amplify their benefits. Instead of relying on grid electricity, solar panels can generate electricity to charge your EV, reducing costs and ensuring the electricity powering your car is produced sustainably.

Although a standard home solar installation is unlikely to fully power your EV, it can at least contribute to the electricity used by your vehicle. For example, in Western Europe, a solar panel produces about 1 kWh of electricity per day on average, meaning a dozen panels would generate around 10 kWh daily (depending on your location).

This amount is enough to provide a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range with approximately 42 km of range, which is more than the average daily distance driven in the EU.

Do I need a smart charging station for my EV to charge with solar energy?

You might wonder if you can simply use the energy generated by your solar panels to charge your car. The answer is a bit more complex than just plugging your EV charging station into solar panels.

The issue is that the energy generated by a photovoltaic panel is inconsistent and highly variable, and it cannot be directly fed into an EV’s battery (or the grid).

In any case, any solar panel installation must include an inverter to convert the electricity so it can be fed into the home’s electrical system and used to power appliances or charge your car.

While a smart charging station isn’t necessary to use solar panel electricity, it can greatly assist in managing the charging process and controlling when and how much solar energy is used to charge your EV.

For example, with a smart charging station, you can choose to charge your vehicle only when your solar panels are generating electricity. The station, paired with an energy management system, can predict the best time for charging. This allows you to use the energy you produce and ensures it’s generated sustainably, avoiding the need to purchase grid electricity.

Can I store the electricity I produce with solar panels?

One of the main challenges with solar energy, especially for EV charging, is the timing difference between production and consumption. Solar energy is primarily generated during the day when the sun is shining brightest, but most people tend to charge their EVs at night after returning from work.

One solution is to store the energy produced during the day and use it later when needed. To do this, you can install a storage battery connected to your solar panels. You can then charge the battery during the day with the solar energy you produce and use it to power your home at night or when solar production is low.

Naturally, purchasing a storage battery and connecting it to your home’s electrical system comes at a cost. Excluding installation, a lithium-ion storage battery can cost between €7,000 and €14,000. Depending on your location, a less expensive alternative is to sell excess electricity generated by your solar system to your utility company or energy provider. This way, when you’re not using electricity (e.g., if you’re at the office all day), you can feed the energy produced by your solar panels back into the grid and be compensated for it.

Net metering

This ability to produce your own energy and sell it back to the grid operator is called net metering. While specifics vary significantly by country and utility company, in general, net metering allows homeowners to be paid for supplying the grid with electricity from renewable sources.

Typically, with net metering, a bidirectional electricity meter measures the number of kilowatt-hours (kWh) fed into the grid compared to the amount of electricity the household draws from the grid. For each kWh fed back into the grid, you receive a pre-agreed credit, which is deducted from your overall energy bill.

This is an excellent way to reduce electricity costs, even if you can’t directly use the energy produced by your solar panels. For example, even if you charge your EV at night, you can still benefit from a lower electricity bill by selling your solar panel production during the day and offsetting your total electricity consumption.

It’s important to note that not all countries, states, or utility companies allow net metering. Currently, many EU countries permit net metering, but fewer countries and utilities allow it as they aim to balance supply and demand.

Vehicle-to-home with solar integration

Beyond storage batteries and net metering, a third energy storage option is emerging as a future technology. The vehicle-to-home (V2H) system is a form of vehicle-to-grid (V2G), which allows an electric vehicle to act as a storage battery and supply energy back later.

With V2H, you can effectively use your EV as a storage battery by charging it when your solar panels produce the most energy and using the stored energy in your vehicle to power your home when the sun isn’t shining.

Currently, vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid systems are still emerging innovations and have not been widely deployed. However, they could be critical for our power grids, unlocking battery storage on a much larger scale and enabling easier access to renewable energy throughout the day.

Government incentives for solar

As governments worldwide seek to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, many offer incentives for homeowners to install renewable energy sources, including solar power.

These can take the form of direct subsidies that cover part of the installation cost, more attractive rates for purchasing electricity through net metering, or even tax deductions or reduced tax rates on energy bills.

Available incentives for your property vary greatly depending on your country, region, and local authority, but in general, they can significantly reduce the cost of installing solar panels on your home. Additionally, the French government offers various benefits for installing an EV charging station, further reducing costs if you use solar energy to charge your EV.

What is the future of solar energy?

As the world strives to move away from carbon-intensive energy sources, renewable energy sources like solar power will play an increasingly crucial role in our electricity supply. Solar energy is an attractive way for households to reduce energy costs, gain independence from the grid, and ensure sustainably produced electricity.

Pairing solar panels with an electric vehicle enables additional savings by using the solar energy produced to charge your car. Smart charging can help you achieve these savings by allowing precise control of the charging process and ensuring optimal energy use. For more information on smart charging, check out our detailed blog.