Solar home chargers

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Going solar for a home saves you just the cost of the utility-rate power, but going solar to charge your EV instead of paying for gasoline or DCFC typically saves a lot more money faster.

We built out our solar in stages over 3-4 years, and did it all ourselves. The Lightning was at the tail end of this but typically saves more actual $ per day than the house and shop energy use, because of the cost of gasoline we don't buy now. I cut our utilty bill from 400/mth to $40, but the EV charged at home saves over $600/mth in "not gas" transportation.

With long summer days, our 13kW of solar panels runs 37kWh of home/shop daily loads plus 20-30kWh of EV charging easily, and an 130kWh home battery gives us a few days of poor weather run time without issue.

The cost of our full solar build was about half the cost of the Lightning...but we expect the solar will last a lot longer...and the cost of utility power only seems to go one direction...happy with our system.

Another way is to use ToU (time of use) rates - if these are significantly lower overnight, to charge a battery system that runs inverters to power your home during higher cost utility power. No solar panels required (but can be added later if you like). Our overnight rate is about 1/4 of the daily rate.

For the OP - unless you only work nights, I wouldn't waste your time trying to do solar just for the EV. Do the research and if it makes sense for you, build out a full system for your home and EV - it will depend a lot on location and regulations - ground mounted solar is easy compared to roof mounted due to regulations. Read the NEC rules on roof mounted solar and you will see why.

None of my 13kW of solar panels are on the roof of my home.

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[EV Engineer]

I just watched that video.... Yes you can do things for less if you want to do it yourself, but once you go grid tied and depending on your utility company and state, it's gets a lot more complicated with laws, building permits, inspections ECT... I know in NYS you add a PV car port or pergola, it has to be allowed by your county, you need a professional 3 line diagram, multiple inspections, town board approval ect.... And in that video go look what a car port like that goes for... Doesn't pay in the long run.

That video gives you numbers but nothing in regards to us regular folks that can take the tax credits and incentives.

I could grab this from Sam's, get 3% back cash back then use the 30% FTC.... https://www.samsclub.com/ip/EcoFlow...ackUp-Kit-with-Smart-Home-Panel-2/15695760414

Offgrid Solar Beginner Crash Course: Build a 10,000W Solar System

Here is a better video he does. This one is a little more expensive but still cheaper than your EcoFlow. Could probably get 26kW of battery storage.

I'm not a huge electrical DIY guy but this seems like something a 9th grader could do with his instructions and being patient.

I'm not familiar with the Tax Credits on battery system but I assume all this equipment would also qualify. I have not been impressed with EcoFlow Reviews. I think you're buying a plug in play system from a company that has minimal support so might as well just buy it all raw yourself.

The cheapest way to fill-up the truck is almost always going to be a grid-based 110 or 220 plug. Solar never really "pays for itself". But the original poster was asking for a way, and I think this is the most straightfoward and cheapest way. A solar system on your roof is probably 25k minimum.

 

[fhteagle]

These guys are advertising pure DC (solar) to DC (vehicle). But considering this is now the third iteration of their product design / model number in as many years, I'm really not holding my breath for actual product release.

https://www.enteligent.com/#product


Little known fact: some vehicle onboard chargers (the device that actually turns AC to DC in the vehicle) can accept DC on the "AC pins". That DC needs to be in the right voltage range, though. I will not be testing this on my Lightning, but I have tested it with my previous vehicle. This breaks J1772 spec, so.........

 

[UtahRookie]

You could do SOLAR to your house and enjoy a Zero $ power bill. This is the last year of the 30% tax credit. I did my house and just had my first bill. $15 for the meter charge and zero power used (Lightning and Tesla charged all month for free). I had $400-$450 power bills.

Agree, we are lucky our daughter installed lots of solar panels a few years ago and just added a battery backup. We live in a large detached garage upstairs apartment using power from her connection. We have a 2024 Lightning Flash and she has a plug in hybrid. I had a Tesla charger installed in the garage and it has been flawless. She is also using a Tesla charger.

 

[Chillguy]

This is a typical day for us: It includes EV charging, whole-home battery charging, clouds, etc.

In the early morning our Mustang was charged. It uses the ChargePoint Home Flex, which doesn’t have the ability to monitor outgoing power, so it just charges when the schedule tells it to. I’m changing that up soon.

At around 10:30, the home battery was still being charged (blue line and blue shaded area), but the solar production (green shaded area) was enough to allow the truck to charge. The truck is programmed not to charge until 10:00. You can see the load (pink shaded area) jump up at 10:30 and again at 11:30 when the battery reached 100%. The grid (yellow) is below 0 (i.e., extra power is still being exported) for most of the day except when we run the stove or water heater, which pull very high power. Our AC runs throughout the day without any issues.

Hello,
Thanks for the thorough overview... If I may ask what this set up cost you? And what company you used to install?
Thanks!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Hello,
Thanks for the thorough overview... If I may ask what this set up cost you? And what company you used to install?
Thanks!

We used a small, local installer. The cost jumped in the middle of the negotiations because of tariffs. And we have a complicated setup because I have a commercial workshop electrically connected to our residence. I don't think the cost of our system is representative of what typical residential costs are.

That said, the total cost was about $35k with business tax incentives and residential tax incentives.

This is for a 14 kW solar system with 24 kWh of whole-system battery backup, which includes providing 99.99% uptime for my servers.

 

[dmd3home]

Are there any companies that install just home.solar charging stations? Justa panel/panels.and a hookup.basically
Thanks

I'm not sure about companies that will do it, but I put in my own, off grid level 1 charging system that works great for my needs. Because I use my truck for "truck" things and not as an everyday driver, it sits in my shop most of the time. Because of that, I elected to buy the Pro model and saved considerably on my truck purchase.....so much so that I figured I could invest in a specific solar charging system just for the truck. Another justification for buying the truck was to be able to power my entire home in case of power outages.
So, having it charged up and available was important. Although I already have grid tied whole house solar for my home needs and can use that for level II charging the truck if needed, I elected to keep my truck system off grid and specific for the truck.
I purchased and installed 4 Jinko 465w panels, installed a ground mount system and coupled that with a portable inverter/solar controller and 5kWh battery system suggested by Will Prose on YouTube (see photos). This whole setup cost me about $4K
This system is working well for me. It charges the truck at about 9 kWh/day....not a lot, but sufficient for my needs. That equates to about 20 mi of range per day. It's pretty much automatic....I just leave the level 1 charger plugged into the truck all the time and when the solar battery is fully recharged in the morning from the solar, the inverter turns on and the level 1 charger starts charging the truck.....fully automatic! Slick!
So, since the truck is usually sitting there fully charged, I can use it to power my house, but also, I have a level II charged plugged into the PPO outlet in the bed and use that to charge my other EVs....including my Tesla! I can do this WHILE the truck is charging from my off grid solar....very cool!

 

[daczone]

Going solar for a home saves you just the cost of the utility-rate power, but going solar to charge your EV instead of paying for gasoline or DCFC typically saves a lot more money faster.

I'm curious as to why you say this? Your home using MORE power and would pay off faster than a solar only charger payback that is momentary, not to mention most folks are working when the sun is out. So the system would be idle much of the time. Here is my house right now... Noon, 12kW of SUN and 11kW of SUN going back to the grid, my house is using a few hundred watts.

 

[hturnerfamily]

Will Prowse seems to have a ton of great EXPERIENCE with all of his home and trial usage setups, and explains things thoroughly, and in English... he is safety conscience, but also practical in his development of various options to use for your needs...

While he's in sunny LasVegas, and probably has no issues with shade and cloudy and rainy days like the majority of us, it gives some great direction for various 'EV Charging' opportunities - I imagine he has a ton of Solar Panels, as well...


https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

I'm curious as to why you say this? Your home using MORE power and would pay off faster than a solar only charger payback that is momentary, not to mention most folks are working when the sun is out.

I mean a home solar system with battery storage - although there are plenty of systms that use the grid as a battery.
If your EV charging options are local DCFC or home solar - you may be able to offset 40-cents/kWh cost compared with home use of the same power offsetting a 15-cents/kWh utility rate. Even though the house energy is more, the potential savings from offsetting EV charging can 'pay' faster.

yes, this only applies near to your home, not during travel outside of your home area.

 

[doggod]

Is this one?
https://www.solaredge.com/us/products/residential/solaredge-home-ev-charger

no, this needs an inverter.

 

[doggod]

the least expensive way right now is EG4 inverter have a couple sizes from 6000 to 18000 watts at 240 volt AC, 48 volt DC, best prices at signature solar. Signature Solar has inexpensive solar panels from $0.25 a watt by the pallet. and eco-worthy batteries $840 for 48 volt 5kwh.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

BatteryEVO has some good deals for off-grid options.

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