Hello from scenic beautiful toothless Ohio :)

[Jim535]

Hello
I’m fairly new to solar/battery backups systems but watching a lot of videos and reading a lot. I’ve found Will Prowse helpful and like the spirit of JahuGarcia. I find most resources either super basic or too advanced and hard to find that sweet spot. I’m hoping to learn a lot for people who have paved the way here.
As some back ground I hail from Cincinnati and recently started really looking into ways to supplement power. I’m a luxury car technician with certifications in high voltage and battery certification as well. While that sounds like I should be able to do anything related to wiring up a home system the reality is that I’ve been trained and taught DC power my entire life and to be honest AC power makes basically no sense LOL. It’s essentially magic and yes I’ve read how it works several times. I feel comfortable and understand DC power but can’t even change a faulty light switch in my home…I guess we all have something to deal with. My brand alone is planning to put 7 million EVs on the road by 2025 and I’m sure other manufacturers are similar. The thought of powering all these cars makes me nervous for an already “iffy” grid.
I’m not sure why I find DC power simple and safe but even a small amount of AC power scares me.
Anyways I guess that’s a fear I need to address if I plan to mess with solar panels and power stations and stuff. Anyways I posted a thread about portable solar generators and could use some help there or ideas. Thanks for having me and hopefully I don’t come off too stupid too soon.

 

[pollenface]

I think households need 2 EV's charging from their home solar which they alternate between on a daily basis, drive one while the other sits at home and charges

 

[Jim535]

I don’t disagree but most people in my area according to metrics have a 30-60 mile daily commute. It would need around 3kw continuous for the full 24 hours though as this only adds 3-5 miles-per-hour of charging on an average EV. If you figure 8 hours of full sun only then your bumping this up to probably around 8kw. Seems like getting into start of the full array or solar roof type installations. A lot of people want EVs but not as many want a roof full of panels or the cost associated just to charge their vehicles.
I’m all for it as I feel that adding millions of power hungry EVs to the road is really going to put more strain on a shaky grid already.

 

[svetz]

...most people in my area according to metrics have a 30-60 mile daily commute. It would need around 3kw continuous for the full 24 hours

That 3 kW for 24 hours sounds high, 3x24= 72 kWh. Let me google some stuff...let's see...

The typical EV gets over 3 miles to the kWh (ref), so at 60 miles round-trip that's 60 miles / 3 mile/kWh = 20 kWh. If you meant a 120 mile round-trip commute, that would 40 kWh.

An inexpensive level 1 charger will do over 12 amps (ref), so at 120V that's 120 x 12 = 1440W. So 20 kWh / 1440 = 13.3 hours of charging.

... adding millions of power hungry EVs to the road is really going to put more strain on a shaky grid already. An individual home running an extra 12 amps is not big deal (it's like turning on a dehumidifier). It's if everyone were to do it at once it would be a problem. Fortunately, the adoption of EVs takes time. In over a decade the market penetration has been very small in most countries. But by 2050, ICE (internal combustion engines) vehicles will be for enthusiasts willing to pay the carbon tax for them. Also, as people start to discover the joys of EVs over ICE (noise, smell, maintenance, longevity) they'll naturally migrate that way and the growth does seem exponential in the chart to the right. The good news is we've still a lot of time to figure it out. Finally, not all future cars will be EVs... Fuel cell cars may well yet take the lead with lower-cost electrodes.

 

[Jim535]

Your correct obviously. I have a 240 outlet and have been charging on that for as long as I can remember. I get roughly 3-5 miles on 120 and about 10 miles per hour via 240 running 13.75 amps. I have to tend to agree but disagree about the future as there will be a TON of EVs on the road very soon. I know for example that BMW is still quite interested in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles but the infrastructure just isn’t there. Most manufacturers have announced the end of ICE vehicles by a deadline so I feel while yes other technologies will emerge were going to burn through as much lithium and electricity as we can until that too becomes a problem.

 

[svetz]

... there will be a TON of EVs on the road very soon. Soon is relative. Similar to the grid issues is the question of where all the batteries are going to come from. Also not just EVs.... if you look at the GHG chart to the right, the "grid" represents about 25% of GHG production. Using that as a "thumb guide" the grid needs to double for transportation.

But, it needs to quadruple to replace everything else. It can't actually replace everything, probably >15% of that is cow burps, making concrete, steel, etc. But we've years to make it happen and that also means a lot of jobs or at least a lot of economic upheaval for the next 3 decades.

I know for example that BMW is still quite interested in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles but the infrastructure just isn’t there. Most manufacturers have announced the end of ICE vehicles by a deadline

A lot of folks will do what Cuba did when they couldn't import new cars, they'll figure out how to keep the old ones running. ;-)
Classic cars are probably going to boom, nothing is as valuable as stuff you can't get anymore.