How great would it be to kickstart your day with a fully charged electric vehicle that’s taken its energy straight from the sun? It’s more energy- and cost-efficient, and you’re doing your bit for the environment.
Many households already use solar panels to cut running costs, but pairing solar with an EV opens a new path towards long-term energy independence. You start to control how you produce electricity, when you use it, and how much you save.
Here at Electrical Innovations, we’re committed to helping homeowners in the Midlands integrate EV into their solar setups. With the right approach, you’ll can build a home that supports a more sustainable lifestyle without changing your day-to-day life.
How solar energy links to home EV charging
So, here’s how it works.
Your solar panels generate electricity. Assuming (for the moment) you don’t have a battery storage system, that electricity is instantly either used by your home or sent to the grid.
In your home, any appliances that are actively running, including those running in the background or on standby, demand electrical power. So, if your EV is plugged in and charging during daylight hours, the charger draws its power from house, which is drawing from the solar panels.
If you have a smart EV charger, you can further increase that value. A smart charger monitors spare solar generation and adjusts your EV’s charging needs to match it. For example, it might increase the charge during bright periods and decrease it during cloud cover.
Now, don’t expect your solar panels to fully charge an EV from 0% to 100%, at least, not unless you have a huge system. But remember, the vast majority of us don’t use a full charge every day anyway. A few kilowatt-hours from your panels should be plenty to cover the school run, the weekly shop or your commute. If you need a little extra, it’s okay for the grid to plug that gap.
Remember, the goal isn’t perfection. It’s steady, meaningful savings over the course of many years.
That’s all well and good, but most of us aren’t at home during the daylight hours of workdays. So, what next?
How battery storage supports solar-powered EV charging
That’s where battery storage comes in, which can make a massive difference to your home’s energy- and cost-efficiency.
Solar energy peaks during the middle of the day, but EV charging often happens in the evening. A home battery stores any unused solar energy from the day and releases it later when your charger (and any other electrical appliances you have) activate.
This becomes extra powerful when combined with smart charging. Your battery supplies energy – stored from the solar panels – at night, and then your panels recharge it the next day. During winter, when solar output drops, your battery still helps lower your peak-time electricity demand.
Many homeowners also pair batteries with time-of-use tariffs. These allow you to charge your battery overnight at the grid’s lower rate, which means you can have much more stable (and lower) bills throughout the year, including in winter.
And with modern battery systems and hybrid inverters, you’ll be able to track how much power flows into your home, how much your battery stores, how much flows through your EV charger, and how much goes back into the grid, which, if you have a system from an MCS-certified installer and have applied to SEG, you should get paid for, too. You can use all that data to plan how to charge your EV even more efficiently.
In most cases, you don’t need a large household battery to support EV charging. Remember, you don’t need it to fully charge your EV’s propulsion battery. The important part here is to match the battery to your home’s use. For example, if you heat water electrically, run a heat pump, or otherwise have high electrical demand, a slightly larger battery will give you more flexibility. If your home has a lighter overall load, opt for a smaller battery.
Your EV is just one of the places where stored electricity goes.
The benefits of integrating EV into your solar setup
It’s all about an overall smart approach to energy management. Building a system to maximise efficiency delivers a high return on investment and a household that’s much easier to manage and run.
Of course, this leads to significant financial benefits. Although the installation costs can be moderate to high, every kilowatt-hour that flows from your panels to your car is a kilowatt-hour you didn’t purchase from the grid. Over the months and years, those small savings, including from all your other appliances, add up.
Smart charging and battery systems also help you avoid peak-time costs. That’s another, slightly separate, financial benefit. You can either rely on stored energy, electricity actively being produced in that moment, or wait for the next low-rate period. That means significant reductions in all your EV’s electrical running costs.
Then, of course, there are all the environmental benefits. Each mile you drive using solar or stored solar energy has a far smaller carbon footprint than with petrol or diesel. In fact, even if you use grid electricity, you’re having less of an impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels in your car.
How Electrical Innovations integrates your EV into your solar setup
This is all wonderful, and probably less complex than you might imagine. But it’s critical to work with a trusted solar panel installer who also knows EVs, like us here at Electrical Innovations.
Many homes here in the Midlands already have the required space for an EV charger and can accommodate a battery storage system. Most homes are also suitable for at least a moderate solar panel setup on the roof.
You might need a couple of assessments or upgrades, but don’t worry. These are completely normal parts of EV charger, solar panel or battery storage installation. Most of these aren’t too expensive and simply facilitate the cost savings you’ll make from switching to a cleaner, more independent electrical energy source.
So, if you want to experience the benefits of plugging in at home and waking up to an EV charged with cost- and energy-efficient electricity from your solar panels, give us a call. We’ll guide you through every step of the process and explain the many benefits. Get in touch for a simple, friendly chat about the best solar setup for your EV, your home and your long-term solar goals.
