Reading a CNET article discussing EV home charging via solar panels and one section intrigued me.

“Using solar panels to charge an EV actually streamlines the charging process because both systems speak the same electrical language, in a way.”

“As Wyldon Fishman, founder of the New York Solar Energy Society, explained, solar panels and electric vehicles both operate with direct current (DC), meaning there’s no need to install an inverter between your panels and EV, although a charge controller is still imperative to have in the circuit. DC can also run at lower, safer voltages…”

But, the question the article DOESN’T answer is, what solutions are available to facilitate DC to DC home EV charging for modern production cars? Because I sure haven’t seen any! A lot of us now have solar, but any solar charging systems I’ve found all convert the DC output of panels to AC, then the EVSE sends that AC BACK to the car to be converted to DC to charge the car. Seems inefficient in the extreme. Any ideas?

Article in question: https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/heres-how-many-solar-panels-youll-need-to-charge-your-ev/?ftag=CAD1acfa04&utm_email=b4df71b397bf195d17d8b7213b98bb5924605c43f51406efbfaa73946a35fc78&utm_campaign_id=8279904&utm_email_id=48714fbc63604ce78c40f915af7b204a4f07e20d7a8ab78db0133a97f12cf4df&utm_newsletter_id=71560&medium=email&source=iterable

  • LeoAlioth@alien.topB
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    1 year ago
    • most North American solar installs are ac coupled

    At least in Slovenia, and probably most of Europe, optimizers string inverters are used, so tapping to a dc line before the inverter is not that big of a deal