EV Charging FREE with Solar! Installing Solar Edge EV Charging Cable

[@ProjectsWithDave]

Find More information for this project and others on my website: projectswithdave.com

[@kuhrd]

The main issue with this setup is going to be that a majority of people will be charging at night since they drive to work in the morning and drive home in the evening so the prime EV charging with solar will already be over unless they are charging at night from a large battery bank that was charged up during the day. I also like how they show the ford truck being parked far away from the garage while charging when it switches over to being a power backup for the house. Hopefully, that is not a bad omen.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

You're right, most people won't be home to charge during peak solar production times and it would not be practical to have a sperate battery to use for charging the car later. However, the Solar Edge charger can charge from solar or grid power and it does keep from having to add another breaker to the panel if you don't have the space for it. The Ford cable seems impractically long in their illustration, but I think it's just for demonstration. Thanks for the thoughts!

[@kuhrd]

@@trophyfishn9757 Most Level 2 240V electric car chargers are limited to 16 to 32 Amps and for most people that is going to be more than enough. The FORD charging cable may only be setup for the 16A level 2 charging so then it would only need to be 12AWG to achive that with a healthy safety margin. My main concern was that they showed the vehicle charging so far away which may be a bad omen for the vehicle potentially starting on fire in the future like so many EVs have been doing lately while charging.

[@nicolasperdrix5617]

Thank you for this intersting video ! A few years ago, @kuhed, I was in this situation, but since COVID changed my life, I work from home every other day. It appears now that for me this solution may be efficient. And when my car is not at home, it would be interesting to sell the non-consumed energy. Solar energy, electric vehicles are new technologies, I am sure that in 10 years, we will have wonderful solutions to help save our planet!

[@DeilGrist]

@@kuhrd EVs are about 10% as likely to catch fire as ICE. Catching fire while charging is specifically an issue with the Chevy Bolt at the time. It's not a common issue.

[@eugeneboutom3351]

Do you know if inverter would continue to charge EV with available solar when the grid goes down?

[@ProjectsWithDave]

This inverter is designed to shut down if the grid power is lost. So, no It would not continue to charge if the power is out.

[@SolarboysPH]

SUPPORT RENEWABLE ENERGY.. GOOD JOB!

[@miltonmui9782]

Dave, Great video and thanks for the information. I get that if you have a solar edge system for ev charger and inverter, you can utilize charging from the sun, my question to you is, if I had two choices, 1: Run new line from solar edge inverter to the solar edge charger or 2: I have a existing 220 plug in garage with a 50 amp breaker run a Tesla charger. Why would it cost me any more if I choose option 2 because it is not drawing from the sunlight? Scenario for charging question is for only day light hour charging.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

There are several things to consider here. The installation cost for running a new 220V 50A circuit and charger VS the Solar Edge built in system. Another thing to consider is available solar power. If you are overproducing during the day and can make use of the excess power to charge a vehicle, that may be providing free or low cost fuel.

[@johnellingson8485]

david your the man. keep it up. just getting started on a 16kw grid tie ground mount system thanks to you!

[@ProjectsWithDave]

That is awesome!

[@Curb71]

I've asked this question for months and no one seems to have any clue but I thought I would toss this on this old video as it somewhat relevant and see if you could share your two cents. If the Tesla supercharging is around 400 volts DC, where is a charge controller type product so one could charge their EV directly from solar panels without unnecessarily converting from DC to AC and back to DC? I would love to know what the DC voltage range the Tesla will accept.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

I don't know what the Tesla battery voltage is, but my understanding is most EV's are 400V and some are moving into the 800V+ range. So It makes sense to charge the vehicle at it's native voltage to eliminate the need for a massive DC/DC converter. It is likely the DC fast chargers are capable of more than one output DC voltage to match the various battery packs out there. Because there is no "standard" DC input voltage, I think it would require a lot of additional specialized hardware to allow a typical solar charge controller to manage EV voltages. I think it just isn't practical at the moment. If EV's had onboard DC/DC converters that could take the typical 48V to 54V output from a typical charge controller, it would be an easy problem to solve. However, I don't think car manufactures are likely to add the additional cost of a 48V to 400V DC/DC converter onboard to every vehicle for the very few people like you and me that want to charge directly from solar. I could see someone creating a dedicated solar EV charger that operates in the 400V range, but it doesn't seem like a big money maker for companies at the moment. All that being said, I do think it will happen in the not to distant future.

[@KokkimelonChannel]

It is not only the voltage. It is the current more important. 10 solar panels can provide 400 VDC voltage but with low current. So wont be fast charging! And as i know, there is no any inverter that you can connect dc from panels, to car dc so you can directly car the charge from dc to dc

[@akaDavidWebb]

The obvious better choice is the zappi EV charger by Myenergi. Means you’re not tied into a solar edge inverter, you don’t need to park near to your inverter and you can integrate with a battery and three phase power. Well worth a look.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

Thanks for the info!

[@intheskymusic]

Deserves a million views

[@ProjectsWithDave]

Thanks!

[@srikanth5189]

Great video! Quick question- Do you think it will be a better option to have EV charging from the solaredge inverter if I am trying to avoid a Main panel upgrade? I am planning to go solar and get an EV but upgrading my main panel is going to be very expensive as I have to relocate it (lots of trenching to do for underground service and I want to avoid that). Solaredge is marketing this as a way to avoid MPU upgrade. Your thoughts?

[@ProjectsWithDave]

You will need to have space in your load center for a breaker to back feed the power from your inverter. That same breaker will also supply power to charge a vehicle. This has the advantage of saving the space required to add an independent breaker for a separate EV charger. Hope that helps. Thanks

[@Marley417]

How do i connect this to my solar pannels?

[@persian6969]

I have the same inverter model, what charger cables can I use to be compatible with my inverter? Should I only use solar edge brand cables or I can use other brands,too? Please help

[@ProjectsWithDave]

There is only one cable that connects to the inverter. It is made by Solar Edge. Here is an Amazon link: amzn.to/3qmRam8

[@persian6969]

@@ProjectsWithDave thanks for the link, but that amazon product has been unavailable for a while, do you have any other shopping link?

[@tedcalouri2694]

Does the solar edge EV require an AC connection? You mention it does solar only but that it also does AC charging... I am looking for a solar car port that is DC to DC charging to avoid losses in conversion . I don't want grid tie in. Will the Solar Edge EV do that?

[@ProjectsWithDave]

The SolarEdge inverter is already connected to AC to deliver power to the house and grid. No additional connection is required. It will charge with solar power or AC power or both depending on the setting you give it. Here is some more information on the topic: www.solaredge.com/us/products/ev-charger

[@tedcalouri2694]

@@ProjectsWithDave "SolarEdge inverter is already connected to AC to deliver power to the house and grid" so it is neither DC to DC nor an off grid solution. I want to make a carport with solar panels and I am trying to avoid the efficiency loss of DC to AC conversion only to then convert it back to DC. This entire setup seems very inefficient, I am looking for a way to get the DC power coming off the panels into the DC battery of an EV efficiently.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

DC fast chargers are 440V, I don't know of a home version. Maybe someone else knows of something.

[@KokkimelonChannel]

@@tedcalouri2694 I am exactly thinking the same. You found solution? I am trying the SUNGROW SH 5.0RS , and running it to completely backup mode( off grid)! It is running perfectly for all the loads for my office as off grid, with or without battery, but i dont have electric car to test the charging!!

[@KokkimelonChannel]

Amazing video! Majority of people cant do it but i can do it cause my work is exactly 10 meters from my garaze! So i can have the car there continuously charging! One question: this inverter is connected directly to panels, but it is big system for me. What you can suggest for the same inverter brand or else, but to work with 2-3 panels ,for example 1kw power? Cause my electric car is Citroen my ami, with 5,5kwh battery, so i dont want to invest for many panels and big inverter

[@ProjectsWithDave]

I would just get a regular level II charger like the ones mentioned in the video. If you charge during the day, you will be the solar your panels are generating except for some conversion losses.

[@KokkimelonChannel]

@@ProjectsWithDave panels cannot connect directly to the level 2 charger. You need to change from DC to AC first. And the idea is to have the less cost , to install 1-2 kwp max.

[@isaacwathika9088]

is that inverter metallic or non-metallic?

[@ProjectsWithDave]

The casing of the SolarEdge inverter is plastic with an Aluminum heat sink on the back.

[@collingtonpopley6175]

Great

[@johnrogers1423]

Given that the power from the roof panels is DC it's a shame that SolarEdge does not have a DC to DC charging option. The way that they do it now the power from the panels is converted from DC to AC by the inverter which goes into the car and is converted back to DC to charge the car's battery. My SolarEdge inverter sends up to 5 kW DC to my LG Chem house battery and up to 10 kW of AC out of the inverter. If the inverter also allowed DC power to go to a car charging socket the system's throughput and amount of power produced could be increased. This would also allow higher charging speeds from the panels to the car as the car's maximum DC charging rate is much higher than its maximum AC charging rate.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

Yes, I think there is still a technology gap between EV's and Solar chargers. I suspect DC charging from solar will be a common thing in the not to distant future.

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

HOWdy P-w-E-D-D, ... Thanks COOP the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA ...

[@rp9674]

I have an idea for a less exciting super budget system for an application that has an EV at home during sun hours. 1.5 to 2 KW solar, a relatively small battery to buffer and provide emergency power. Use the 110v charger off an outlet from the inverter to give a supplemental charge. The point being providing a constant load ; not spending on batteries. It could give you enough power to get to a level 2 charger in a worst case emergency &/or enough power to run a small appliance or microwave during power outage (day) & reduce your power consumption under normal circumstances.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

Sure, a relatively small system could give you a lot of flexibility without a big up front investment.

[@ssoffshore5111]

@@ProjectsWithDave But how often do they stay a small system??? Doing it twice becomes even more expensive!

[@richardlopez8303]

My plan is for a small off grid solar pv array to charge three EV’s. Mine and two neighbor EV’s would also serve as home backup when the grid goes down. We would park the ev next to the solar pv array and let it charge the ev, no hurry, no line and it’s free. Then drive the ev to one of the three nearby homes for use as an emergency backup of to run errands to town, 10 miles away. The EV’s become storage batteries on wheels. Now tell me the problems I will need to address. Thanks. Rich

[@rp9674]

California has reduced their electrical power buyback price twice, sabotaging grid tie solar

[@rp9674]

Charging 3 EVS off of an off-grid system sounds extremely ambitious. I'm not an expert but it seems a off-grid system needs at least a small battery, at least I haven't seen one without a battery.

[@timnevitt2993]

solar charging is not free, it will 3 to 4 of charging to pay for all that solar stuff

[@ProjectsWithDave]

If you do it right it pays for itself very quickly. You can see my 4 year system payback result here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5uugXurmJ2HaZo

[@fred8565]

Miss leading at best.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

What is misleading?

[@hardtruth2039]

Too bad the Ford lightning is a piece of crap.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

It's a first in a lot of ways, it will take some time to work out all the kinks. I do think using the vehicle as a home backup solution is brilliant!

[@chrisfallon5346]

Hi Dave, thanks for this. I just had an ~9KW on grid system installed, but plan to make my own offgrid 5KW ground mounted array to charge my EV and for backup power. I also plan to get a somewhat large battery bank to store the power. What is the difference between using this specific charger verse getting a different inverter that feeds the Level 2 charger I already own? Also, is the cable from the juicebox compatible with this one? Sorry for my fairly noobish questions, but you have truly inspired me since finding your channel to do this! Thanks for your time!

[@ProjectsWithDave]

Chris, If you already have a level II charger, It is designed to work by using your household AC power. That power may come from your 9kW system if you are charging during the day. If you want to add 5kW of additional solar and be able to have battery backup that can be integrated with your current system, I recommend checking out the Sol-Ark 12K ( www.sol-ark.com ). The charging cable for my Solar Edge inverter is specifically designed for the inverter. Hope that helps.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

Nice work! Sounds like you put a lot of thought into your system.

[@1995arv]

If my bosses let me set this up at work it would be cool

[@EngelUniverse]

How would this scenario work? If I have your setup that you showed here, that means I can only charge during the day. But if I add a battery bank for night charging, would I need another charging cable connected to the battery bank or the inverter's connection will we able to kind of do a smart switch and deliver my juice?

[@ProjectsWithDave]

My system works this way: Charging during the day; I can charge from solar only or both solar and grid supply for quicker charging. Charging during the night; the inverter pulls power from the grid to charge the vehicle. I do not have batteries, but if you did, the inverter connected to your batteries provides power to the vehicle charger just like any other appliance in your house.

[@EngelUniverse]

@@ProjectsWithDave So, the inverter always gives priority to the solar panels, or the battery? And only if not enough energy is available from those, then it utilizes the grid?

[@ProjectsWithDave]

There is an app that allows you to set the priority. If you set it to solar only, it will charge slower though.

[@EngelUniverse]

@@ProjectsWithDave Thank you sir! By the way, love the channel! Definitely subscribing :)

[@ProjectsWithDave]

Thanks!

[@Deveak]

Sounds useful for someone with an off grid power system. To EV charge straight from the battery to inverter to the car can be very expensive snd s lot of wasted steps. If I understand right, this takes a minimal amount of wall AC power and can use DC power to directly charge an EV? That’s a huge game changer. Especially in rural areas with room for large and cheap ground mount arrays.

[@ProjectsWithDave]

The inverter charges directly from the solar input, but it is not DC/DC. That technology is not yet available at a home use level as far as I know.

[@Deveak]

@@ProjectsWithDave how much AC power does it use when charging?

[@ProjectsWithDave]

You can program it to use only Solar if you want.