Charging electric vehicles with solar energy from a locally installed photovoltaic (PV) system is both sustainable and cost-effective. Learn how ChargePilot enables smart charging powered by the sun.
The Perfect Duo
Where solar meets smart charging: combining PV systems with electric vehicles is an obvious solution. Excess PV power that is not used directly within the building is ideal for charging. Since vehicles typically remain at charging stations longer than necessary, they can serve as flexible consumers or storage units. The increased use of PV power results in significant cost savings, given that grid electricity is usually four to six times more expensive.
Finding the Right Balance
The main goal is always to ensure that the vehicles are reliably charged and ready for use when needed. At the same time, maximizing the use of solar power is beneficial. ChargePilot offers a proven solution that masters this balancing act while putting individual requirements first.
- Supportive Surplus Charging
The ChargePilot Controller is installed on-site, connecting the charging points to the grid and tracking power consumption in real time. Once the PV system generates more electricity than the building consumes, ChargePilot identifies the surplus and intelligently distributes it to the vehicles. As a result, there is more charging power available, allowing the vehicles to be fully charged even quicker. And the best part: no additional hardware is needed, except for the setup of dynamic load management.
- Exclusive Surplus Charging
Optionally, the vehicles only charge when surplus PV power is available, and only to the extent of that surplus. Hence, no electricity is drawn from the public grid for charging. These settings can be customized for particular days or times. Once configured in the ChargePilot Dashboard, they can be activated or deactivated as needed.
A practical example: Typically, supportive surplus charging is enabled to flexibly utilize PV power as an additional source. However, the fleet is not needed on Sundays. This is where exclusive surplus charging comes into play: The vehicles are connected to the chargers on Saturday evening, but charging sessions do not begin until Sunday morning when the sun is out. In case the PV surplus is not sufficient, the remaining electricity is drawn from the grid overnight. This way, ChargePilot ensures that the vehicles are fully charged on Monday – both sustainably and cost-effectively.
If PV power is already managed by an energy management system (EMS), ChargePilot can easily be integrated via the standardized Modbus interface. In this case, ChargePilot optimizes the charging sessions according to a target value set by the EMS.
Conclusion
ChargePilot offers a convenient solution for efficiently integrating locally generated PV power into vehicle charging, increasing self-consumption. Operators of charging infrastructure benefit from greater energy independence and significant cost savings. At the same time, they contribute to the energy transition and sustainable mobility. A win-win for everyone.