Help - What is Needed to Power 2017 Nissan Leaf?

[noobsolarev]

Can anyone help me figure out what I need to power a 2017 Nissan Leaf, 30 kWh lithium-ion battery?

My current rental is upstairs and the landlords pay downstairs, so, I have to use an extension cable cord to connect to my charger to charge my car - the cord has to go out the back door, through the patio, down one story, AND I can only do it after 9 pm because the landlords say it's cheaper AND because there are no bug screens in this country, it's very scary for me to have to do this at night - with the extension cable leaving an opening for critters to come in and feast on me.

So, I want to see if I can bypass all of that stress and do solar. My car came from France, I think. But the charge thingy end fits Portugal house outlets . . . two prongs. I need a system that does not require any skills because I do not know how to do solar. Thank you for your help! I have been googling for weeks and do not even know who can sell me this. Renogy EU said they can't. I think I need 8 panels, an inverter from 12 V to AC, right? But who can sell this to me and get it to me in Portugal? I can't seem to find any companies. Thanks for the help.

 

[ShaneC]

A solar setup powerful enough to charge an eV is not a simple build. You would need to spend a lot of money and have a lot of knowledge to do it. I cannot recommend it with your lack of experience in this area. The best thing you could do is ask your landlord for permission to install an external socket. It should be around €100 for an electrician to install. That way you can plug into that without the critters getting you.

 

[noobsolarev]

A solar setup powerful enough to charge an eV is not a simple build. You would need to spend a lot of money and have a lot of knowledge to do it. I cannot recommend it with your lack of experience in this area. The best thing you could do is ask your landlord for permission to install an external socket. It should be around €100 for an electrician to install. That way you can plug into that without the critters getting you.

Hi ShaneC, Thank you for the response. I tried asking them if that could happen already . . . at the start when I got the car....I asked if an electrician could put a socket tied to my unit downstairs ....they shot down that idea. Of course I said I'd pay for it. Ugh. Guess I'll just grin and bear this for a little while longer until I can move. Thanks.

 

[Supervstech]

Hi ShaneC, Thank you for the response. I tried asking them if that could happen already . . . at the start when I got the car....I asked if an electrician could put a socket tied to my unit downstairs ....they shot down that idea. Of course I said I'd pay for it. Ugh. Guess I'll just grin and bear this for a little while longer until I can move. Thanks.

Yeah, it is too bad solar outputs so low a wattage per square foot.
To give you an idea, you would need a 48V battery 10 or more kWh in size, plus acreage to position 2000W of panels at the sun… just to get a partial charge at night.

 

[noobsolarev]

If anyone has done this before, whether it's a Leaf or some other car with a smaller battery, please let me know how you did it.

 

[ShaneC]

Your landlord won't let you put in one external socket but he's happy for you to mount 10 square meters of solar panels? That's a bit mad.

To roughly cost it up for you you'd be looking at:

Battery: €2,000
Solar Panels: €1,000
Solar Charge Controller: €500
Inverter: €1,000
Misc. Cables etc: €200

All very rough estimates, it depends a lot on availability in your area. You could probably find an AIO inverter that can take in solar but to get one with the kW output needed to charge a car you're talking serious cost, it *might* be cheaper than a separate SCC and Inverter though, you'd have to price them up based on what you can buy locally.

In short, this is almost certainly not worth your money, time and effort in your current situation, even if your landlord is happy for you to mount all those solar panels on the roof.

Solar works well for people who own their own property and can make significant modifications to the house in order to use solar power for most of their house's running. Alternatively it can be a fun hobby and a good way to learn quite a lot about electronics, you really need to be happy spending a lot of money on it though.

 

[watchdoc]

I charge my Leaf with solar and a small AIO inverter daily. Its a 3000 watt Growatt LVM-ES, a 48v server rack battery, 3kw of solar panels and a adjustable EVSE. Entire system was around 4000 USD.

For someone not very experienced, I would suggest the EcoFlow delta Pro and if you can afford it, buy two of them with the double voltage hub.

Both of these options are expensive and you will likely never recoup your investment.

 

[Doggydogworld]

If anyone has done this before, whether it's a Leaf or some other car with a smaller battery, please let me know how you did it.

It should be easy to directly connect solar panels to your car battery, but it's not. The only people I've seen do it are extreme DIY types. The other approach is to use very expensive intermediate equipment, including inverters and buffer batteries.

I'd look into weatherproof sealing strips. Similar to below, maybe a bit larger. Cut it to fit your window, and cut a small slit for your extension cord.

https://www.amazon.com/Density-Waterproof-Neoprene-Single-Sided-Adhesive/dp/B07QQS7937/ref=asc_df_B07QQS7937/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=366309219598&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11561872168905452046&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9027958&hvtargid=pla-795406503355&ref=&adgrpid=75985294773&th=1

 

[ShaneC]

It should be easy to directly connect solar panels to your car battery, but it's not. The only people I've seen do it are extreme DIY types. The other approach is to use very expensive intermediate equipment, including inverters and buffer batteries.

Only if your solar panel voltage is the correct voltage to charge the battery at, for a 400V battery system your panels would need to provide around 415V atleast to charge the battery pack. Not to mention what that might do to your EVs BMS.

 

[Doggydogworld]

Only if your solar panel voltage is the correct voltage to charge the battery at, for a 400V battery system your panels would need to provide around 415V atleast to charge the battery pack. Not to mention what that might do to your EVs BMS.

Yeah, when I say it "should be easy" I mean EVs should come with the equivalent of MPPT circuitry. Or offer it as an option. I agree array voltage would need to be in the right ballpark, or the DC/DC converter range would have to vastly exceed what is typically found in a MPPT charge controller.

The other approach would be an external MPPT that talks directly to the battery via CCS protocols. Neither approach seems like it'd be particularly difficult. Maybe there just aren't enough potential customers.

 

[ShaneC]

Yeah, when I say it "should be easy" I mean EVs should come with the equivalent of MPPT circuitry. Or offer it as an option. I agree array voltage would need to be in the right ballpark, or the DC/DC converter range would have to vastly exceed what is typically found in a MPPT charge controller.

The other approach would be an external MPPT that talks directly to the battery via CCS protocols. Neither approach seems like it'd be particularly difficult. Maybe there just aren't enough potential customers.

An MPPT SCC does not increase voltage from what is given by the solar array. Even in a 12V system if your solar panel only gives 10V it can never charge a 12V battery. The SCC can lower the voltage but afaik they do not increase the voltage.

 

[Supervstech]

An MPPT SCC does not increase voltage from what is given by the solar array. Even in a 12V system if your solar panel only gives 10V it can never charge a 12V battery. The SCC can lower the voltage but afaik they do not increase the voltage.

36V/48V Rover Boost 10A MPPT Solar Charge Controller

The 10A Rover Increase fee controller permits you to charge 36V or 48V battery financial institutions with 12V or 24V low voltage solar panels.

www.renogy.com

 

[ShaneC]

OK, so there are some, but most do not. Boosting voltage is possible of course but again more circuitry, and you'll struggle to find any consumer grade 400v Mppt.

 

[Bluedog225]

Another option is to meter the electricity you use and use the landlord’s first floor plug.

That is, measure how much you use, and pay him for it. Plus a little profit for him? Why not.

 

[Supervstech]

Another option is to meter the electricity you use and use the landlord’s first floor plug.

That is, measure how much you use, and pay him for it. Plus a little profit for him? Why not.

Yeah, have him plug in the cord for you, and EVERY time you use his plug, pay him for 20kWh or something.
He is happy to get extra money, and it is simple to implement.

 

[noobsolarev]

Another option is to meter the electricity you use and use the landlord’s first floor plug.

That is, measure how much you use, and pay him for it. Plus a little profit for him? Why not.

I asked him if his handyperson could do this at the beginning, or alternatively seeing if the handyperson could put in a separate socket for me, but he said it would cost too much or something . . . some communications may have been lost in translation/poor English/no Portuguese. He was pretty against me charging the car at the house in the beginning (they're fine with it now since I only charge it like once a week anyway) and said I could charge it at the grocery store while I shopped for groceries. But when I drove all over town, searching for different charging stations, all of the charging stations require a special stupid card that I didn't have and did NOT take a simple credit card. Plus I read that fast charging is bad for the battery. Anyway, I guess after reading all of the helpful comments (thank you everyone!), I'll just keep using the extension cord to charge after nine p.m. until I move.

 

[MattiFin]

Can anyone help me figure out what I need to power a 2017 Nissan Leaf, 30 kWh lithium-ion battery?

My current rental is upstairs and the landlords pay downstairs, so, I have to use an extension cable cord to connect to my charger to charge my car - the cord has to go out the back door, through the patio, down one story, AND I can only do it after 9 pm because the landlords say it's cheaper AND because there are no bug screens in this country, it's very scary for me to have to do this at night - with the extension cable leaving an opening for critters to come in and feast on me.

Sounds like you need to do 2 things:
1. Invest 5 euros to a package of mosquito screen.
2. Start looking for a new place to live with more reasonable landlord.

 

[ungrounded]

Can anyone help me figure out what I need to power a 2017 Nissan Leaf, 30 kWh lithium-ion battery?

My current rental is upstairs and the landlords pay downstairs, so, I have to use an extension cable cord to connect to my charger to charge my car - the cord has to go out the back door, through the patio, down one story, AND I can only do it after 9 pm because the landlords say it's cheaper AND because there are no bug screens in this country, it's very scary for me to have to do this at night - with the extension cable leaving an opening for critters to come in and feast on me.

So, I want to see if I can bypass all of that stress and do solar. My car came from France, I think. But the charge thingy end fits Portugal house outlets . . . two prongs. I need a system that does not require any skills because I do not know how to do solar. Thank you for your help! I have been googling for weeks and do not even know who can sell me this. Renogy EU said they can't. I think I need 8 panels, an inverter from 12 V to AC, right? But who can sell this to me and get it to me in Portugal? I can't seem to find any companies. Thanks for the help.

Learn to deal with the critters is your best bet.