Can Solar Panels Charge an Electric Car?

Electric vehicle charging adds between 30 to $60 to your monthly electric bill. The cost varies depending on your local utility. If you live in a state with high electricity costs like California, you can expect to pay close to $60.

Since 88% of electric vehicle owners charge at home, owning an EV represents a significant bump in their electric bill. This is a potential pain point for EV owners especially since electricity costs have been on the rise since 2020. How do you reduce or offset the added expense?

You can use solar to charge an electric car. But how many solar panels would you need and how does charging with solar panels compare with charging from the grid? Let’s find out.

Can Solar Energy Power Electric Cars?

You can use solar power to charge an electric car. Solar energy is a cheaper, carbon emission-free alternative to charging electric vehicles compared to using grid-supplied electricity.

Electricity costs rose 4.7% in 2021 as per the U.S Consumer Price Index. Costs are predicted to keep rising through 2022. Gasoline has seen a 63% rise in the space of a year. A solar-powered electric vehicle can drastically reduce both these expenses. (Source)

Also find out CAN PORTABLE SOLAR PANEL CHARGE E SCOOTER?

Most EV owners charge at home as it is more convenient. There are still relatively few public charging ports. Charging an electric car is like charging a laptop. They use the standard voltage already supplied to your home. You just plug it into a dedicated charge port and let it charge overnight.

There are two different types of home EV charging ports.

• Level 1 chargers are the simplest. They use a lower voltage and many plug into your typical three-prong wall socket. While they might be the cheapest they are also the slowest EV charger.
• Level 2 chargers have a higher voltage and use a multi-pronged plug commonly used for clothes dryers. A level 2 charger charges faster than your level 1 charger.

Solar can be used to charge an electric car the same way you charge your laptop or run your air conditioner. Aside from the EV charging port, there is no special installation necessary to accommodate it.

How does charging an electric car using solar compare against charging using grid-supplied electricity?

Pros of using solar for electric cars

The biggest advantage solar has is cost. It’s much cheaper to charge an electric car using solar than it is using electricity from the grid.

Grid vs solar energy

At current rates, it costs up to $662 per year to charge an electric vehicle using grid-supplied electricity at home. The costs balloon to $1,058 when you use a public charging station. It costs $415 per year using solar energy. This is according to a study by Solar Reviews, a consumer solar reviewer. (Source)

If you consider the cost of filling up a gas tank, which was around $1,260 at the time the study was published, the cost of charging an electric car is even cheaper. If you factor in the rising cost of both gas and electricity, solar comes out even further ahead by comparison.

You can calculate the cost to charge your electric car here. (Source)

Carbon emissions

Charging an electric car with electricity from the grid reduces the impact having an electric car has on minimizing your carbon emissions. This is because grid-supplied electricity is generated from fossil fuels.

Charging your EV with solar will reduce your carbon footprint since solar panels generate renewable energy from the sun.

Cons of using solar for electric cars

The biggest disadvantage of using solar to charge your electric vehicle is the high upfront cost of a solar system.

Solar installation costs

While in the long run using solar saves your money, the high upfront cost of a solar system and installation can be prohibitive. Some of the cost is offset by tax incentives and fuel savings, however.

Intermittency of solar energy

Solar is not as reliable as grid-supplied electricity. The latter is always on, while solar is reliant on there being sufficient sunlight to produce enough energy. How much sunlight you receive in your location will determine how much you can rely on solar for charging.

How Many Solar Panels Does It Take to Charge an Electric Car?

You need between 5 to 10 solar panels to charge an electric car. The exact number depends primarily on how much you drive the car.

Calculating your mileage

Sizing a solar system is largely dependent on the consumption of energy. In this case, consumption is the number of miles you drive every day. The average American drives 40 miles per day. Taking that as a baseline we can work out how many kilowatt-hours your solar panels would need to produce to provide you with enough energy.

A Tesla Model 3 requires 9.6 kWh to do 40 miles while a Hyundai Ioniq needs 10 kWh. How many solar panels would you need to produce 10 kWh? This depends on the power output of the solar panels and the average daily peak sun hours you receive.

If you were to use solar panels rated at 300 watts and you received 5 hours of peak sun hours you would need 7 solar panels to charge your vehicle.

(300W X 7) X 5 = 10.5 kWh

Do you need batteries to charge an electric car?

Batteries are not strictly necessary. You can use solar panels alone. The catch, however, is that most people are not at home during the day when solar panels are collecting energy. If you’re out at work you can’t charge.

Batteries allow you to use the energy your solar panels have collected during the day at night. That means you can come home and charge your vehicle overnight.

Why Are Solar Panels Not Used on Electric Cars?

Some models of electric cars use solar to power basic functions like the starter motor. Trying to use solar panels to power the entire car, however, is inefficient. There isn’t enough space on a car to produce enough energy to power it over a sufficient range. Even if you covered the surface area of a car in solar panels you would only get 3 miles for every hour of charging.

It’s more practical to have solar panels power some smaller functions than to try to power the whole car.