If you drive an electric car yourself and charge it at home (or at your company), it is of course attractive if you can charge your car with solar panels. After all, that’s free. How do you handle it?
The electricity for your electric car normally comes from the grid. And for that you pay a price per kWh, which will usually be somewhere between 0.20 and 0.26 euros. And if you drive a company car, you can often get those costs back. However, you do not know exactly where the power comes from and whether it is green. That is why you can ask yourself whether you can charge your car with solar panels. After all, then you pay nothing for the power supplied. And what does that entail?
Needed: solar panels
The recipe for charging your car with solar panels is very simple: you need solar panels that are connected to your home or business. If you charge the car while the sun is shining, you are actually using all the solar energy that is supplied at that time. Of course, that only happens during the day. When it is dark, the solar panels do not supply electricity and you simply pay for the electricity. It is therefore good to keep an eye on when you connect the car to the charging station or wallbox. Especially if you have the choice!
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No solar panels installed yet?
What can you do if you don’t have solar panels yet? You can often have solar panels installed at your own house. This is very simple, various companies are involved in this. You can request information about this in your region or from your energy company, but also, for example, from the Home Owners Association.
If you have an apartment, you can ask the Owners’ Association (VvE) whether solar panels can be installed. This is possible for many apartment buildings. And you should always have contact with the VvE if you want to make a charging station at your parking space.
If you have a rented house or if you are unable to directly or indirectly install solar panels, you can become a member of an energy cooperative in many municipalities. This is an organization that installs solar panels on public buildings such as sports halls and municipal offices. You can then take out a subscription for your energy through them.
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Charging card with green energy
Along the way there are several fast chargers where you can charge your electric car with solar panels, such as the stations of Fastned and Vandebron where you are literally under a roof of solar panels.
If all this is not an option, or if you also want to charge with solar panels on the way, you can request a charging card that uses green energy. Usually you also use other green sources such as wind energy and biomass. Various suppliers are also active in this area.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl