Putting home-captured solar energy into an electric car can take years off the payback time for solar PV installation – or provide miles and miles of free motoring, depending on which way you view the calculation.
| Solar PV array size (kW) | Energy collected per year (kWh) – 1 | Potential electric car miles – 2 | Cost of ‘lost’ feed-in tariff per year – 3 | Equivalent cost of petrol – 4 | Potential saving per year |
| 1 | 850 | 3,400 | £38 | £408 | £370 |
| 5 | 4,250 | 17,000 | £191 | £2,042 | £1,851 |
| 10 | 8,500 | 34,000 | £382 | £4,084 | £3,702 |
www.theecoexperts.co.uk/how-much-do-solar-panels-cost-uk
- Based on a Nissan Leaf (4 miles/kWh)
- Based on feed-in tariff of 4.5p/kWh
- Based on petrol cost of £1.35/litre, 51 miles per gallon.
Even more favourable for the nation’s 450,000 solar PV owners1, installing an electric car charging unit at their home, which would normally be in excess of £1,000, is currently completely free of charge, courtesy of electric car charging company POD Point, in association with the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV)2, who are promoting a grant that can be applied whether or not there is currently an electric car (or solar PV) at the property – making now the ideal time to prepare for future electric car purchase.
A home charge point is a wall-mounted unit that converts incoming current to a level that can charge an electric car and deliver it, via a charging ‘gun’ and is intended to recharge the car in the place it spends the greatest amount of time parked, usually the home parking location.
The charge points produced by POD Point are the most advanced available on the grant scheme, and are complete with remote locking and energy management software, an integral 4.8 metre cable, and either a J1772 or Type 2 charging gun. POD Point charge points all have a weather-proof (non-rusting) ABS plastic casing.
Steve Large, Technology Director of POD Point, commented,
“While the generation tariff remains favourable for solar PV owners, the Feed-in Tariff amounts to handing back over 10p per kWh to the electricity companies – who have not paid for either the installation or maintenance of the domestic solar PV – making on-site energy storage or use the most favourable financial option for solar PV owners.”
Electric motoring is now well on the way to mainstream acceptability. Steve Large comments,
“There is a growing acceptance that electric cars are a cheaper form of transport than a petrol or diesel car, which can cost upwards of £12 for 100 miles of motoring, compared to around £4 for 100 miles of electric motoring – or nothing if you charge your car using your own solar PV-generated electricity.”
Readers wanting more information about the free charge point offer, and how to apply for it, should email [email protected]or call 0207 247 4114.
References
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/weekly-solar-pv-installation
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-low-emission-vehicles
Source; POD Point
