Product Review

Integrated PV Inverter and Electric Vehicle Charger

SolarEdge’s photovoltaic inverter and electric vehicle charging station reduces the number of mechanical systems and simplifies installation.

Charging your electric vehicle (EV) at home using renewable energy is the future of transportation. But getting that power to the car typically requires two systems: an inverter and a charger. Photovoltaic (PV) panels use inverters to convert direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC), and a charger typically supplies energy pulled from the grid. SolarEdge’s EV Charging Single Phase Inverter is the first inverter that combines the two into one product and allows EV charging directly from a PV system.

EV charging basics

Charging an EV is not one-size-fits-all. Different car batteries have different battery sizes and charging rates, so if you don't put a lot of miles on your EV, or if it has a small battery, then a 120-volt wall outlet (1.44 kW and standard 20 Amp circuit) can supply enough power to keep your car topped off, but barely. This level 1 “trickle charge” system delivers between five and eight miles of range per hour of charge (even less at lower amperage), so it can take 20 or more hours to fully recharge an EV that has a 100-mile range.

Published October 8, 2018

Ehrlich, B. (2018, October 8). Integrated PV Inverter and Electric Vehicle Charger. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/product-review/integrated-pv-inverter-and-electric-vehicle-charger