Hi, I am interested in the reasoning for the link between Solar Panels and an EV.
We had solar panels fitted in June and it seems to have been cloudy ever since. Maybe Kent gets more sun than Cheshire. I have just got £18 back from the smart export guarantee for June to mid October, after an investment on £7000 for the panels. Five solar panels and two batteries. We charge the cars once a week at night on the cheap rate. 100 mile range for about £3.
What seems to happen is the solar battery starts the day at 20%, the minimum, then during the day the power produced by the panels chargers the batteries up, if it’s sunny the batteries are fully charged by mid afternoon and I can export electric back to the grid. Then in the evening the oven and other electric usage drains the battery back to 20%. During the day electricity usage is usually taken from the batteries and panels except for large current draw eg shower. So during the day I use less grid electricity. However I haven’t seen a drop in my monthly direct debit. I am just now in credit of £300 on my electric bill.
I assume you are thinking of drip charging the cars from the panels during the day when it’s sunny. I haven’t done this as the cheap rate electric used overnight is 8.95p a unit and day time 31.31 p per unit on British Gas EV 5 tariff (newer Tarifs are different) Any electric I send back to the grid is 15p per unit. So it makes sense to charge the cars at night, use solar in the day to charge the solar batteries and power the house. Any excess is earning 15p rather than saving 8.95p as I’m not charging the car night.
Oh, and we seem to have attracted the pigeons who like to go under the panels. Consider a bird guard for the panels.
I am not trying to put you off solar panels but the cost payback for my installation in a very long time. Of course there are other benefits to solar in terms of climate and novelty value.
I hope this helps
Paul.