Home Electric Car Charging Station: An EV Home Charger That Uses Your Solar
If you have panels on the roof, the right charging station turns spare daytime power into free kilometres. If you do not, a night rate does nearly as well.
The Halswell Roof That Was Selling Its Power Cheap
A Halswell family had panels on the roof and a car on the driveway. They were selling their spare solar back to the grid for a few cents a unit during the day, then buying power back at full price to charge the car after dark. Their old charger simply ran whenever the car was plugged in.
We swapped in a solar-aware charger with a sensor on the supply. On sunny days it now charges the car from whatever the panels are producing that the house is not using, and it tops up on the night rate if the battery is still low. The car now does a good share of its kilometres on sunshine.
Charging Stations That Work With Solar
| Charger | kW | Installed price |
|---|---|---|
| Smart EV Charger 7.4kW (Socket) | 7.4kW | $1,672 |
| EV Power BCP Solar DLB 7kW | 7kW | $1,822 |
| Evnex E2 Core | 7.4kW | $1,972 |
| Wallbox Pulsar Plus | 7.4kW | $2,248 |
| Evnex E2 Plus | 7.4kW | $2,272 |
| myenergi Zappi 7kW | 7kW | $2,418 |
| Evnex X7 | 7kW | $2,468 |
| Evnex X22 (22kW three-phase) | 22kW | $2,572 |
| Wallbox Pulsar Max | 7.4kW | $2,868 |
Solar modes need a sensor on the mains or the solar feed, which we fit as part of the install.
How to Get the Most From Panels and a Charger
- Plug the car in when you get home, even if the battery is half full
- Let the charger soak up surplus solar on weekends and days at home
- Set a night-rate top-up so the car is never short in a cloudy week
- Check the app to see how much of your charging came from the roof
No Panels? A Night Rate Does the Job
- Pick an EV power plan with a cheap overnight window
- Schedule the charger to start when the cheap rate begins
- Expect roughly $2 to $4.50 per 100km at typical night rates
What About a Home Battery?
A home battery and an EV charger can work together, but a car battery is usually several times bigger than a home one, so the house battery rarely does much of the car's charging. For most Canterbury homes the order is panels first, a solar-aware charger second, and a home battery only if the numbers stack up on their own.
The Zappi page covers the most popular solar charger in detail.
Price a Solar Charging Station
Four photos are all we need: your switchboard with the door open, the spot where the charger will go, the path between them and your meter board. One written number comes back, usually the same day.