EV Charger, with solar panels.

poker--addict

can people share their experiences of the various options suitable for use with panels, the apps associated with them, and cost of install.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058302727/ev-charger-with-solar-panels

The most popular option is a Zappi, the support from MyEnergi is great, and the app and general features are good too. They also work with an Eddi if you want a hot water diverter but they can work with other diverters too

I think they're around €800-€1000 directly from MyEnergi and then you'll need an electrician to install it

If you're willing to live without software updates, there's a bunch of older v1 Zappis for sale at the moment because MyEnergi recently ended support for them and offered the owners a pretty good upgrade deal to a v2 Zappi

There's also lots of companies around offering the Zappi plus installation

Tbh, pretty much every company that offers a charger these days has a solar PV integration option

They generally work in the same way, a current sensor clamps around the mains feed in your meter box and feeds consumption data to the charger. When it detects negative current (power feeding to the grid) then the charger will try to charge the car at the maximum amount to use up the exported power

The minimum power to start the charger is 1.4kW, so bigger arrays tend to get more juice into the car. You can offset this by allowing the charger to use some electricity from the grid, anything above 75% green energy is generally cheaper than the night rate

In terms of how well it works, a lot depends on your driving habits. If you're around a lot during the day and can keep the EV plugged in then you'll probably get a significant amount of driving from solar

I'm tracking my own usage in the thread below, last month was something like 75% driving on solar, which was pretty low because I had to drive into Dublin every day for a week. This month I'm hoping for 99% driving on solar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058294549/im-driving-on-sunshine-whooah

Gerry

Besides zappi, any other recommended and maybe lower priced chargers?

poker--addict

Thanks, no Eddi here but other pros noted 👍🏼

poker--addict

Best solar powered home EV charger. 2023. — boards.ie - Now Ye're Talkin'

discussion continued in EV section of forum. Might be good time to lock this one.