Reduce your carbon footprint and save money?
Electric vehicles can certainly reduce your carbon footprint. But, by connecting to the grid you not only pay for the electricity, you are also not at the zero carbon foot print you may have imagined. Electric Utilities generate power using fossil fuels including coal and natural gas. Although we are a strong proponent of domestic natural gas, we also see where alternative renewable energy sources are needed to combat climate change.
EVs hold great potential to accomplish carbon reduction as do the Solar Panel Systems to designed recharge them. Combined, they save money AND result in zero carbon emissions when solar powered. We asked our partners at Paradise Energy Solutions just how many solar panels may be needed to recharge an average EV.
They advised us that it could take in the neighborhood of eight and 14 solar panels to charge your electric car. This all depends on how much you drive, the efficiency of your vehicle, and the sunshine in your area.
How many Solar Panels would be needed?
The first step is to determine just how much electricity your particular EV uses. This can be defined in number of kilowatt-hours (kWh) needed for your EV to travel 100 miles. For example, your EV may use 30 kWh per 100 miles. You will also need to know how many miles you travel in a month. For this example, we will use a mileage of 1,000 miles per month. Based upon those numbers we can calculate how much electricity is needed each month.
The formula is quite simple:
(kWh per 100 mi for your electric vehicle * monthly miles driven) / 100 = kWh needed per month
Or for this example
30 kWh per 100 miles X 1,000 miles per month / 100 = 300 kWh electric required per month
As a general rule of thumb, a single solar panel will produce around 30 kWh each month. Of course, this is depending on where it is installed, the type of panel and weather patterns in your location. But a good average is 30 kWh per month. If we divide the 300 kWh per month found above by your vehicle average of 30 kWh, we can see it will take 10 panels.
These can be installed in a carport arrangement or be integrated with a complete solar system that powers your commercial building or industrial business. The possibility to reduce costs and your impact on the environment are available today. Please contact us to find out more.
You can read more on our Solar Panels here – Solar Panels for Charging Station
