Can I charge my car with solar panels?

The uptake in electric cars in the UK has been impressive with around a third of all car sales in the UK in December being that of electric battery powered cars.

While these numbers do have some wiggle room as car manufacturers balance our their carbon credits for the year, it is proof that electric vehicles are here to stay.

One of the biggest selling points of EV’s has always been that they were cheaper to run that petrol or diesel vehicles. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that electric vehicles were costing next to nothing to charge up while cars were queueing great distances to fill up at the pumps as the cost of fossil fuel spiralled.

However the energy crisis that began in 2022 because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed up more than just petrol prices. The cost of energy as a whole has shot up dramatically and charging an electric car is no longer as cheap as it once was. And that has led to a lot of people looking to see if that can charge their electric car using solar panels.

Wanting to charge your electric vehicle using solar panels is an incredibly green method of personal transportation. After all, for many, the idea of charging their electric car through mains power that itself is generated from carbon intensive coal power plants can be off putting.

Can I charge my car with solar panels?

Yes you can. But as we know in Scotland, it is not sunny 24/7. So the best way of charging an electric car by solar panels is with the addition of battery storage system to help fill the gap in daylight hours and allow you to charge your car even during the night.

By having an electric charging point installed couple with solar panels and battery storage system allows you to harness the energy of the sun to power your home, charge your battery for energy during the dark hours and charge your electric vehicle.

Installing solar panels is an expensive initial investment but if you are currently using an electric vehicle then the return on investment point is going to be greatly reduced as you will be able to charge your car for pretty much nothing (depending on your usage and when you can charge your car). If you imagine how much money it currently costs to fuel a petrol powered car for a year or charge an electric car using power from the grid for the same length of time, you can easily see how quickly your return on investment can be.

How many solar panels does it take to charge a battery powered electric car?

Different cars come with different battery sizes and even the length of time it takes to charge a car so it is impossible to be precise with the answer to that question but it should take around 8-11 solar panels to be able to fully charge your electric vehicle in a suitable timeframe.

Why chose Solar PV?

It’s simple and easy to install
It connects to other technologies such as Battery Storage and Electric Vehicle Charging
It can be easily monitored via Energy Monitoring software
It’s a great way to raise the green credentials of your business
and it’s environmentally friendly too

The cost of Solar Panels

Solar power is currently the cheapest form of renewable technology to produce, which is why it is widely accepted to be the best option throughout the world. However, the overall cost can depend on a variety of factors, including the:

Size of your roof or available land
Size of system required
Direction of your roof
Angle of your roof
And the type of panels required

At Low Energy Services, we offer an extensive portfolio of green energy services. As well as solar panel installers and battery storage system fitters, we can provide a range of green energy solutions covering everything from energy monitoring, control strategy analysis, building heat leakage analysis, design, supply, installation and maintenance of renewable technologies to general advice on how to make your building as efficient as it can be.

Based in Glasgow and providing energy solutions across Scotland and England, we design and install energy capturing and storing systems for businesses and home owners who are looking to reap the financial benefits of solar and battery storage solutions while reducing their carbon footprint and lowering their yearly energy costs.