Solar to charge Spark EV

[gmarcucio]

Has anyone looked into charging the Spark with Solar Panels off grid system? I have a shed/small garage I park my Spark in and charge with the L1 120v EVSE. I was thinking if I could fit enough panels on my roof and have a off grid battery system with a inverter and plug my EVSE into that to charge the Spark it would be cool! Has anyone done research on it? Does anyone have the calculations I would need to size the solar panel system?

 

[oilerlord]

"Cool" perhaps but a money losing proposition for sure. Typically, the only sensible reason go off grid is if there is no grid available. It's easy to calculate how much solar you need. The first thing you need to do is calculate how much PV you need on your roof. Assume that it takes up to 18kWh to charge your Spark's battery, then to pvwatts.nrel.gov, to calculate how PV you need on your particular roof. It's pretty accurate.

Here's my system:

https://easyview.auroravision.net/easyview/index.html?entityId=7466210

As I write this, my 9.2kW / 41 solar panel system has generated ~20kWh. It was a cloudy morning, but the sun is shining now.

As for going off-grid, keep in mind that with net metering; your power co will bank the power you export to the grid - which in a sense is like a virtual battery (that you don't have to buy or maintain), allowing you to use that power when the sun goes down and on cloudy/rainy days.

 

[gmarcucio]

I already have a 6.3 Kw 26 panel grid system on my home roof that I lease from Solar city. I just like tinkering and thought it would be cool to cover my shed with panels and charge the Spark. I have been wanting to build my own system just as a project. How would I be able to add more panels of my own and connect to the grid when I am already connected with Solar City? That's the only reason I wanted to go off grid is I didn't think I could connect into their system.

 

[gmarcucio]

"Cool" perhaps but a money losing proposition for sure. Typically, the only sensible reason go off grid is if there is no grid available. It's easy to calculate how much solar you need. The first thing you need to do is calculate how much PV you need on your roof. Assume that it takes up to 18kWh to charge your Spark's battery, then to pvwatts.nrel.gov, to calculate how PV you need on your particular roof. It's pretty accurate.

Here's my system:

https://easyview.auroravision.net/easyview/index.html?entityId=7466210

As I write this, my 9.2kW / 41 solar panel system has generated ~20kWh. It was a cloudy morning, but the sun is shining now.

As for going off-grid, keep in mind that with net metering; your power co will bank the power you export to the grid - which in a sense is like a virtual battery (that you don't have to buy or maintain), allowing you to use that power when the sun goes down and on cloudy/rainy days.

By the way, your system is impressive!!!!

 

[oilerlord]

Hey, thanks for that. We don't have any subsidies for solar in Alberta, so for the project to make sense; I sourced all the hardware on my own and had a solar startup company help me install and provision the system. My PV is west biased which isn't necessarily by design, but rather the way the roof(s) are pointed. The advantage is that the power curve lasts longer throughout the day, which will be important once we start using the air conditioner in the summer. On June 21, we will have an amazing 17.5 hours of daylight.

I mentioned net metering, however our utility doesn't allow us to bank exported kWh's like most municipalities in the US do. As such, we receive a paltry 6.59 cents per kWh that we export to the grid - but with fees (transmission, distribution, local access, etc) we buy electricity at about 10 cents per kWh. For that reason, I'd rather use those excess kWh's in an EV than export it to the grid. Notwithstanding the cost of buying the Spark EV, I figure I'll save ~$45 for every tank of diesel I'm buying for the Jetta.

 

[Dusty]

How would I be able to add more panels of my own and connect to the grid when I am already connected with Solar City? That's the only reason I wanted to go off grid is I didn't think I could connect into their system.

I think you could do this and stay grid-tied, but it would require one of two things: you would need an extra meter to differentiate between your panels electrons and Solar City's, or more likely, you would need a whole separate account with a new feed to your garage which would also require a different meter. Depending on the cost of installing a new line and the various, unavoidable monthly surcharges, it could be more or less expensive than installing a small battery bank in your garage. If you look into this, let us know what you find out.

Regardless of which way you go, definitely review your contract with Solar City. It wouldn't surprise me if they demand exclusive access to all photons hitting your property.

Dusty

 

[refinerysmells]

I think off grid charging is a awesome idea and a good backup source of energy when the grid fails. I plan to use this 2800 watt 2.8kw mobile solar trailer I built 3 years ago, I could charge my spark ev on occasions. Here's a link to some pics of it I need to update them tho, http://epe504.blogspot.com/2015/07/mobile-solar-system-trailer-build.html now it has much larger 280watt solar panels and when I get time I would like to bump it up to a 48 volt system and change out to a 240 volt magnum inverter so I could run my Miller multimatic 200 welder off the system. As of now it should charge the spark in full sun light with the poor man Trojan T-105 batteries with the L1 charger around 1500 continuous watts but at night thats a no go. I think the car might even fit inside the trailer! Ill try and get some updated pics and some of it charging the spark off grid soon. I might even be willing to sell the trailer. Other wise parts like Morningstar Mppt charge controllers,Magnum and Gopower inverters also Sunpower 435 watt panels are about the best off grid parts I know of. Morningstar has a monster off grid 600 volt mppt charge controller that makes me wonder if it could possibly be used as a off grid dc charging system hack for the Spark ev http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/tristar-mppt-600v/

 

[QuietRider]

Off grid panel charging is an excellent question, even if the cost isn't competitive with grid-power. I'd like to have 4 panels ~ 1kW to plug into the Spark, and maybe charge other batteries for backup power.

There are days when the Spark mostly is parked at home. Why not get a boost from the sun? Questions helpful to be answered are - can the panels be connected directly to a plug (ie, J1772) to charge the car with DC voltage? - What voltage should be supplied from the panels?

Getting away from the topic - is the auxiliary power outlet (aka cigarette lighter outlet) an option for inputting 12V power into the main battery? If it's sitting in the parking lot at work all day in the sun, a couple hundred watts of PV on the roof/hood of the car can give it half or more of a kWh. Integrating PV into the car skin ought to be an option.

Thank you,

 

[MrDRMorgan]

Off grid panel charging is an excellent question, even if the cost isn't competitive with grid-power. I'd like to have 4 panels ~ 1kW to plug into the Spark, and maybe charge other batteries for backup power.

There are days when the Spark mostly is parked at home. Why not get a boost from the sun? Questions helpful to be answered are - can the panels be connected directly to a plug (ie, J1772) to charge the car with DC voltage? - What voltage should be supplied from the panels?

Getting away from the topic - is the auxiliary power outlet (aka cigarette lighter outlet) an option for inputting 12V power into the main battery? If it's sitting in the parking lot at work all day in the sun, a couple hundred watts of PV on the roof/hood of the car can give it half or more of a kWh. Integrating PV into the car skin ought to be an option.

Thank you,

Not a very good idea - I have 3 - 230 Watt solar panels connected to the grid through individual micro-inverters. Together, during the summer, they only produce 4 kWh (240 VAC) per day 6am to 7pm. In December, the panels only generate 1.2 - 1.5 kWh per day. Note: for micro-inverts to work, they must be synchronized with the grid voltage and frequency. Proper earth grounding is also required.

You need 120 VAC through the L1 EVSE or 240 VAC through an L2 EVSE to charge through the external charging connector. Approximately 400 volts DC is used by the DC quick chargers plus you would need all of the control electronics.

I have a 15 watt solar panel connected through a 12 volt charge controller to the auxiliary power outlet in my pickup truck . I use this to keep the 12 volt battery charged while it sits idle in my driveway for many days / weeks at a time. The auxiliary power outlet is always hot, even with the truck turned completely off and the ignition key removed.

My suggestion would be to just connect Sparkie to 120 VAC through the L1 EVSE supplied with the car.

 

[QuietRider]

Not a very good idea - I have 3 - 230 Watt solar panels connected to the grid through individual micro-inverters. Together, during the summer, they only produce 4 kWh (240 VAC) per day 6am to 7pm. In December, the panels only generate 1.2 - 1.5 kWh per day. Note: for micro-inverts to work, they must be synchronized with the grid voltage and frequency. Proper earth grounding is also required.

You need 120 VAC through the L1 EVSE or 240 VAC through an L2 EVSE to charge through the external charging connector. Approximately 400 volts DC is used by the DC quick chargers plus you would need all of the control electronics.

I have a 15 watt solar panel connected through a 12 volt charge controller to the auxiliary power outlet in my pickup truck . I use this to keep the 12 volt battery charged while it sits idle in my driveway for many days / weeks at a time. The auxiliary power outlet is always hot, even with the truck turned completely off and the ignition key removed.

My suggestion would be to just connect Sparkie to 120 VAC through the L1 EVSE supplied with the car.

Lot of folks on this forum have similar interests. It's a wonder why the Spark can't take a DC charge, since AC certainly adds to loss through conversion - something that should be fixed - it should be able to take either.

Truck battery charging through the lighter socket is a good idea. It would be interesting to know if the Spark main battery bank will accept a DC charge through that avenue, even if small.

Microinverters on the house pv system here also - At 3 years still work well. I'm not sure they need grid power synchronization - seems like a 240V 60 Hz UPS from batteries could trigger them (e.g. when the grid is down and the home is switched off the grid)?

Back to the Spark - To me even 1 kWh per day of Spark main battery charge would be helpful while the car is parked outside.

Thank you,

 

[StevesWeb]

We have 78 solar panels, each with a microinverter. Our 2014 Spark EV has not been charged anywhere except at home since we bought it.

We are net producers and have gotten small checks from SoCalEd for the last two years for our excess energy put on the grid.

If we had chosen a standalone system we would have spent a small fortune for batteries, which do not last as long as solar panels.

Stats http://geekhill.org/solar.php

 

[MrDRMorgan]

We have 78 solar panels, each with a microinverter. Our 2014 Spark EV has not been charged anywhere except at home since we bought it.

We are net producers and have gotten small checks from SoCalEd for the last two years for our excess energy put on the grid.

If we had chosen a standalone system we would have spent a small fortune for batteries, which do not last as long as solar panels.

Stats http://geekhill.org/solar.php

No wonder why the nuclear power plant was shut down.