Clean energy has been breaking records for the past few years and it doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. According to market insights provided by Solar Energy Industries Association in partnership with Wood Mackenzie, solar PV accounted for 43% of all new electricity-generating capacity additions through Q3 2020. Similarly, electronic vehicles (EVs) have also experienced record growth in 2020, registering a 43% increase despite a slump in overall auto sales. Even during a global pandemic, these industries have shown incredible resiliency as the demand for greener solutions continues to surge.
Perhaps one reason why these numbers are so similar is that solar energy and electric vehicles go hand-in-hand. Simply put, solar power can keep the engine running. Charging an EV with solar is not only a cleaner solution, it also can be much more economical. This is especially true if the home has SunPower’s high efficiency solar panels. SunPower’s solar panels are known to generate more power in less space when compared to conventional panels. With solar power, a home can produce its own energy instead of fully relying on the electrical grid. This can lead to serious savings when a monthly utility bill comes around.
For the times when power isn’t directly available from the sun, homeowners with a SunVault solar battery can use their energy storage system to pick up the slack. With its intelligent software, SunVault offers homeowners various options on how to use their excess energy. This includes storing it, using it during peak demand hours or tapping into it during power outages. It’s a great solution when homeowners rely on their electricity to power up important assets, including the family vehicle. During an online appointment, one of the questions our SunPower solar consultants often ask is if the homeowner has an electric vehicle. This helps our team factor in the right number of solar panels needed to not only power up the home but the EV as well.
So how much power can a homeowner expect to use on a monthly basis to keep their EV up and running? Instead of calculating miles per gallon, EV owners need to use a different formula to determine their costs. A common unit of measurement is kilowatt-hours per 100 miles. Typically to figure out the cost of an EV’s consumption, drivers multiply their vehicle's kWh/100 miles by the cost of electricity during the time of day the car is usually charged. This will help factor in any added demand charges or fees that the utility company may throw in during certain times of the day. For example, many electric models get about 25 kWh per 100 miles. The national average per kilowatt-hour is 13.3 cents. While this number varies state-by-state, a good reference can be found U.S. Energy Information Administration’s site. Multiplying 25 kWh per 100 miles by the national average of 13.3 cents gives you an average cost per mile of about $0.03. That’s a pretty attractive number! As you can see, by doing these calculations, most homeowners will find that electric vehicles are typically much more eco-friendly and economical over time than their fuel-based counterparts, especially if they are charged by solar power.
The decision to use solar energy to power electric vehicles isn’t a purely residential trend. Auto dealerships are finding its value for keeping a fleet of EVs charged and ready to test drive. Audi Seattle is the brand’s leading seller of its high-performance EVs. Looking to cut overhead costs and sustainably support a large power supply, Audi opted in for a 235 kW SunPower® solar system to offset 50 percent of the dealership’s electricity usage. As the adoption of electric vehicles continues to grow, more dealerships will need to find ways to shave off the electric load that having the cars onsite will bring with them. There’s no doubt that highly efficient solar + storage solutions can take on the job.
Popular automotive manufacturers are amping up their production of electric vehicle models within the next few years. Toyota plans to launch 60 new hybrid, electric, or fuel-cell vehicles within that timeframe and BMW expects sales of its hybrid and EVs to account for 15 – 25% of its global sales. With this level or growth and demand, more homeowners and dealerships will be looking for ways to support their incoming electric vehicles in the most economical way possible. Solar power is not only the most affordable answer, it is also sustainable and extremely reliable. It’s why we expect to see more EV owners go solar. It just makes cents.
