Can you charge your electric vehicle with solar energy?
Government data predicts that HALF of all cars on the road will be electric by 2025 – that’s only 3 years from now! As the most carbon-efficient option on the market – it stands to reason that EVs would use this to its fullest and many eco-conscious EV owners would embrace it. Some electric vehicles come with solar roof hardware to charge them with the same PV technology that home or commercial solar panels have. Unfortunately, this feature isn’t common in the EV market so the majority of EV owners have to rely on charging points.
What types of electric vehicles are there?
Electric vehicles are either battery, plug-in or hybrid powered – so what’s the difference?
- A battery EV (BEV) is considered fully-electric because the car needs to be physically plugged in and its battery charged with electricity to work. This is unlike petrol and diesel engines that have combustion engines and use fossil fuels that release carbon emissions into the atmosphere. BEVs are typically judged as ‘true’ electric vehicles. If you want a car that produces the least amount of carbon emissions on the market, a BEV is the one for you. It will, however, need to be plugged in via a charger to keep using.
- A hybrid EV (HEV) has both an electric battery and traditional combustion engine. They typically use the electric battery for speeds up to 20mph before the petrol or diesel engine takes over. The great thing about a HEV is that the battery doesn’t need to be externally charged. Instead, when the car is cruising, the combustion engine will power up the generator which in turns produces electricity to store in the electric battery. This type of EV doesn’t need to be plugged-in, unlike PHEV models.
- A plug-in hybrid EV (PHEV) is similar to a HEV because it has both a petrol or diesel engine and an electric battery. Unlike the self-sufficient HEV, a PHEV needs to be plugged in at a charging point in order to charge the battery. The battery can usually operate the car for anywhere between 10 and 50 miles before it runs out and the combustion engine takes over. For short trips and daily use, you could probably get away with just using the electric battery and only needing the combustion engine in emergencies.
What electric vehicles come with solar panels?
Unfortunately, solar roof EVs aren’t common and that’s because they don’t generate a lot of electricity even at the best of times. In concept, they’re a fantastic idea but they’re not the most efficient or effective in practice.
Car manufacturers are not keen to release solar roof electric vehicles to the UK market where the sun is even more of a rarer sight than in countries like the US.
If you’re still interested in taking a peak at what the future might hold for fully solar-powered vehicles, here are a few interesting models you can browse:
- Nissan Leaf
- Sono Motors Sion
- Fisker Ocean
- Hyundai IONIQ 5
- Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX
- Aptera Sol
Can you install solar panels on an EV that doesn’t already have them?
The short answer is no. Unless the car was manufactured with solar panels, you won’t be able to install them separately.
What are your other options?
If you’re interested in powering your EV with solar energy, you can install an EV charging point instead. Brands like Tesla, MyEnergi and SolarEdge produce charging points that we install to your residential or commercial property and they can either use grid energy or your self-generated solar energy to power them.
We always recommend installing solar PV panels along with your EV charging points for maximum returns in the long run. This way, you can generate energy for your home as well as your electric vehicle in the most eco-friendly and carbon-efficient way.
To charge an electric vehicle, you won’t need many solar panels. When we design solar PV systems, we take into consideration what you need them for, how much energy your system needs to produce to supplement this and use intelligent software to predict and calculate your system’s output.
Renewables are the future of energy and solar is a big part of that. Join the green energy revolution today by installing solar panels, battery storage or EV chargers with Bright Spark!
BRIGHT SPARK
We’re one of the leading green energy installers in Sussex and Exmouth, supplying sustainable energy systems for residential and commercial properties.
Are you interested in starting your green energy journey? Get in touch!
Tel: 01903 443 321
Email: info@bs.twsdev1.com
