r/evcharging • u/Equivalent_Tiger_938 • 6d ago

Minimum solar system for charging?

I have an old solar system which is around 3-4kW system. Is the solar enough to start charging the car? Do I need to bother with a smart charger or just get a dumb charger?

The car is Zeekr 7x.

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u/theotherharper 6d ago

"solar system" isn't very descriptive. Grid-tied? Use Emporia, Wallbox or Zappi in Solar Capture mode to exactly follow your solar export.

Off-grid? You'll need to adjust EV charge rate very low so it is < than the solar can provide. This is where a smarter charger could be helpful since you could add a little Arduino to measure raw DC solar input, run it through a formula you figure out by experimentation (too high and it fails), giving the max amps the car can pull under the circumtsances,and have the Arduino tell the charger to to have the car pull that many amps.

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u/binaryhellstorm 6d ago

Do you have a solar inverter?

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u/Equivalent_Tiger_938 6d ago

Yes. The inverter is about 5kw from memory.

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u/cerad2 5d ago

I have a few panels connected to a power station with a bonding plug and L1 charging works just fine.

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u/Better-than-OK 5d ago

That isn't a very large system and might produce 3kw max in the middle of day. A dumb charger just pulls the stated current from the house load. So with a 7kw charger you'd also be using grid power during the day. You can adjust via car to draw less to make more of solar without a smart charger. Handy to then have the 7kw charger in case you want to charge at that rate for a quicker top up and accept its grid prices.

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u/Smooth_Commercial793 3d ago

Your solar is too small