A dispatchable load like EV charging is a major asset for grid management. EVs can eat up supply peaks and drop out when supply tightens. The average EV (32 miles per day) needs only about 1.5 hours of charge time per day using a 240 volt outlet.

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Solar on your roof.

There are lots of days that solar panels are going to produce more power than the home can use, especially during the sunny hours. Sell that power to utilities for other peak hour demand and buy back cheaper off-peak power.

I’m running my house on 1.2kW of solar panels. This time of year my batteries are full by 10am. That gives me about 7.2kWh of electricity that I’m not using and could be fed into an EV. About 20 miles of cost free driving per day. If I were on the grid I could sell that power to the utility company and buy it back at a cheaper price at night.

(Come on car manufacturers. Give me an affordable 4wd EV. I got teh power going to waste….)

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Average US driver piles up 12,000 miles per year, 32.9 miles per day.

Typical EV uses 0.35kWh/mile or 11.5kWh per day.

Almost all of the lower 48 gets 4.5 or more solar hours per day. In a 4.5 solar hour location you can produce that 11.5kWh with 2, 600 watts of solar panels. Panel prices have dropped below $1/watt, installation prices need to come down.

If we could get installation at what German homeowners pay 2.6kW of panels would cost a little under $10k. That would give one 40 or more years of driving for about $21/month.

Wind is a lot cheaper than solar. Currently 4-5 times cheaper.