Hi AVB and Norm,
I already know of people that run their EV on their house solar system Norm,
it doesn't cost them a dime to run their EV in electricity ,the tyres are another matter though
$500. each for a Tesla tyre and they only last 30,000 km.
I kindly disagree about the zero cost. A solar system will have maintenance costs if nothing else. Even failed components that needs replacing costs the owner.
Every solar system does takes a considerable time to recoup the initial costs thru savings.
If you look at it like they bought an EV then went out and bought solar then yes there will be considerable costs involved,
I was looking at it like the people already have solar whether they have an EV or not.
You could make it so you could run your EV off your solar system but you would have to either work night shift, be working from home or retired. You can't work a day job driving to and fro to work and keep it charged
The number of solar batteries installed continues to rise with 28,262 installations in 2024, an increase of 4.9% on 2023 numbers. Australia now boasts a total of 121,551, solar panel and battery units (hybrid systems), representing 3% of all solar owners.
If the solar system is set up with battery storage, you could potentially store the solar energy generated during the day and use it to charge the EV at night. This setup could mitigate the issues associated with daytime charging needs
It all depends on how many klicks you do in a week as you could always charge the EV on the weekend without a home battery for the solar.
With the Solid State batteries ,If you typically drive less than 1000 km during the week, charging on the weekend could be sufficient to cover your needs. You may not deplete the battery completely by the time the weekend comes.
There are also other ways to get around solar only working during the day and you can make power at night without using a battery.
When the sun is shining, solar panels generate electricity.
If the solar panels produce more electricity than is needed, the extra power is used to pump water from a lower tank (reservoir) to a higher tank (reservoir).
This process stores energy in the form of elevated water.
At Night:
When it gets dark and solar panels stop producing electricity, people still need power.
The water stored in the higher tank is released back down to the lower tank.
As the water flows down, it turns turbines (like water wheels), which are connected to a generator that produces electricity.
In simple terms, during the day, solar energy is used to pump water up a hill, and at night, that water flows back down to generate electricity when itβs needed!
Cheers
Max.
