Solar Match Mode

October 27, 2021
Harry King

Harness the power of the sun!

Do you want to use your solar energy to charge your EV? ev.energy has the solution you need! Drivers with Solar Match-enabled chargers (like Indra) are now able to charge using power only from connected solar panels.

“Solar only” mode will allow you to charge your EV from the energy generated from your panels when the sun is shining. This means that you’ll override standard smart charging to charge only when your solar panel receives energy. Remember that this charging mode requires the sun, so on cloudy days, your vehicle may receive less power.

Top up your charging with the Grid

And, if you would like to prioritise Solar power but supplement with grid energy, to guarantee a full battery, then select our “Solar and grid” option.

Coming soon to all EV users

Whilst this functionality is currently limited to our users with chargers with Solar Match functionality, we want to bring improved solar charging to all users, regardless of hardware. We will soon be expanding this to introduce a software-only solution for all of our users with Solar panels!

FAQs

How do I turn on Solar-only charging?

If you have compatible hardware, you will find “Solar only” mode in your Solar settings in the Smart tab and select “Solar only”.

If the forecast for the coming days is looking gloomy, you can always switch back to “Solar and grid” to ensure we hit your required charge level every time.

Why is my car not charging to full in Solar Only mode?

If you are on “Solar only” mode and your car isn’t charging to full, it’s possible that there isn’t enough sunlight creating power to fully charge your car. We recommend switching back to “Solar and grid” – you’ll still prioritise Solar power, but we’ll top you up from the grid when you need it!

How will I know when my car is being charged from my solar panels?

The dashboard will display “Solar charge scheduled” and “Solar smart charging now” statuses when Solar Smart Charging is on – see here for more details. We currently cannot display whether a previous charging session was a solar session, although you might notice the reduction in the cost of that charge! We are working on adding this information to the app soon.

Is ev.energy’s Solar Smart Charging feature free?

Absolutely!

Where is this feature available?

Solar Smart Charging is available wherever you are. Update your app through the App Store and the features will become available

I don’t want all the energy from my solar panels to go to my car – what do I do?

We understand your solar panels are also used to power your home during daylight hours, and that you don’t want ev.energy to be able to count on all that energy going into your car. One easy way to solve this is to enter a smaller solar panel array size in the app settings. For example, if your solar array is 10kW, and you want your house to use half of that – then indicate an array size of 5kW in the app.

Any questions?

Read our comprehensive Solar Smart Charging FAQ. Drop us a line at support@ev.energy! We love to hear from you!

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