There are a variety of smart solutions available, capable of optimizing your solar EV charging system in different ways: from scheduling timed charges to controlling which portion of your solar panel electricity is sent to which appliance in the home.
Dedicated smart charging features enhance only the solar connectivity of your EV home charging station, whilst home energy management system (HEMS) apply the same optimization across all household appliances.
Additionally, smart charging software found in compatible charging stations gives you greater control over the charging times and energy-source consumption of your EV, further enabling you to optimize your EV’s connection to solar electricity.
To avoid confusion, maybe don’t say “smart home energy management” but just home energy management”
The global movement toward more sustainable home charging
What is smart charging?
What is a dedicated solar smart charging feature?
What is a home energy management system (HEMS)?
How smart charging stations can further optimize your solar EV charging setup
The global movement toward more sustainable home charging
Home charging is far and away the most popular way to recharge EVs according to our international survey of EV drivers. In the US alone, 80% of all EV charging pile takes place at home, using a home charging station plugged into the household electricity circuit.
As electricity prices continue to rise, and fossil fuel supply remains volatile, we are witnessing a global movement toward more sustainable home charging energy sources – primarily, solar power.
Charging an EV using household solar panels provides EV drivers with a free, carbon-neutral, and sustainable supply of electricity.
Yet, with unpredictable weather patterns affecting the potential output of panels, there is a tangential need for smart charging solutions that can help optimize the use of electricity produced by your PV array.
We explore smart charging solutions in the context of a solar EV system, before diving into the range of technologies available today and how they can improve your household electricity consumption and EV-charging.
What is smart charging?
‘Smart charging’ is an umbrella term for a range of emerging technologies. These technologies rely on Bluetooth and internet connectivity to communicate between your solar panels, the grid, your household appliances, and your EV charging port. In doing so, they optimize the efficiency of your solar EV charging setup.
You can think of ‘smart charging’ as being similar to a ‘smartphone’ or ‘smart home.’ Neither a smartphone nor a smart home does just one ‘smart’ thing. Instead, the ‘smart’ prefix refers to a whole host of software applications capable of enhancing the capabilities of your device(s) and their convenience to you, the end user. This is the same for ‘smart charging’ solutions for solar EV charging.
In the context of solar EV charging, ‘smart charging’ tends to refer to two distinct energy optimization technologies: a dedicated smart charging feature or a home energy management systems (HEMS).
How smart charging stations can further optimize your solar EV charging setup
Without any smart charging features such as those described above, solar panels work for EV charging by converting sunlight into electricity and feeding this electricity into the home’s electrical circuit. Any electricity which is not then consumed by your household appliances is fed, eventually, to your EV charging port. Any surplus solar energy not consumed during this process is then fed back into the grid for use elsewhere, by other households.
The major benefit of smart charging for solar EV systems is that the solutions give you greater control over where, when, and what portion of your solar-generated electricity is spent. The appliance optimizers we described above help reduce energy bills, your carbon footprint, and energy wastage.
Post time: Sep-18-2024