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Solar setup for EV: Build from scratch or use a power station?

Lumen

New Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2023
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4
Location
Austin
I'm looking to build a solar charging system for my EV. Don't drive much so 20kWh/day is fine. I figured I'd buy a pallet of cheap panels which will prob be ~12kW, sell half, and I will have 6kW of panels to use, which is plenty to hit the 20kWh/day target even with overpaneling. I got plenty of land on my ranch so SF isn't an issue.

My dilemma is which route to go? Power stations have gotten so good, does it make sense to build out a system from scratch?

Power Station:
* Was thinking of 2x Pecron EF3600LFP. They will provide 6000 Wh, and most importantly, handle 4800 W combined of solar input. So with 6kW of overpaneling, I am guessing I will easily exceed 20kWh/day in TX. The Pecrons will do 240V but I will prob limit charging to 5kW.

Build from scratch:
* Buy a MPPT/Inverter combo. Is PowMr a good brand?
* Buy LFP batts, maybe 3kWh worth for ~$1k. Don't need much, just need the batts to allow the inverter to pass through the solar power to the EV charger. My car can backfeed so that's all the capacity I need in the event of a power outage.
* Also need a BMS for the LFP batteries?

It's been a while since I played with solar so input appreciated!
 
For my first I had a PowMr and it lasted a few years, and for my purposes it worked. Their 60A models are $80-$100 and recently I bought a 60A Eco Worthy and in hindsight the PowMr has better reviews on Amazon and I might have been better off with the PowMr.

One thing about the PowMr, some do not have WiFi capability and to me being able to monitor system status remotely is a valuable tool at least until you've fleshed out any bugs in the system. Also double check that whatever models you look at support LiFePo4 batteries.

Now to charge an EV? Dunno there. Considering that a CC failure could do what my Eco Worthy did draining my battery I'd not go cheap and get something more upscale.
 

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