How Many Solar Panels Are Needed To Charge A Tesla

Many people underestimate the number of solar panels needed to offset the energy consumption of an electric vehicle and normal daily use. I will run an experiment with a DIY solar setup charging my Cybertruck all day to see how many miles of range we can add. Additionally, I will show you a calculator where you can enter in your own EV, daily range, solar panel size, and a few other factors to get the number of panels needed for your own use case.

DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

[everydaysolar]

DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

[brianmills]

We really need a DC to DC charging option for EV's the Conversion of DC solar input to AC battery output, back to DC battery is also inefficient.

[volvodashcam]

One think this shows is that with a pretty small setup you would still be able to have a working car in a total crisis where nothing around you works. Like after a big hurricane or other disaster. Even longterm you would be able to use the car/truck. That would not be doable with anything needing diesel or petrol.

[brianmills]

This is good to show for the sake of reality. I get asked all the time why Tesla doesn't make their roofs out of solar panels. People who have never used solar don't really understand the amount of panels and consistent sun it takes. That being said, whole home solar is very affordable these days and people also do not understand how quickly a solar system pays for itself when you're offsetting the cost of gasoline or diesel fuel in a vehicle. Residential solar paired with an EV or two is a very good combination for personal finances.

[Jferrari]

Holy cow, that’s a lot more panels that I thought! Great video.

[chrisp]

Thank you for your focus on Solar and Charging for EV's and E to Grid. Very interesting.

[hsew]

In reality, you could build a 10kW solar charging array for about $10-15k DIY and that would be basically perfect for 80-120 miles per day depending on the vehicle.

[tomc.]

My son and I built an electric car about 12 years ago. I drove it to work everyday and charged it at work. We thought about using solar power to charge the car but the problem was that the car was at my workplace all day when the sun was out and back at home at night. The only way we could figure to use solar power at home was to buy another battery pack big enough to store the energy that could then be transferred to the car in the evening. This proved to be way too expensive at the time so we could not use solar power. If you have solar power available at work where the car is all day then you're all set.

[rynieryarom]

The channel @solarcannonballrun did this running a tesla from coast to coast. He had a portable system with theoretical power of 6.4kw, but 5kw real world. That took him something like 3 days to charge up his car each time. It's a cool setup with space and weight constraints

[sokmunky]

All I know is that even with home solar panels you don't make your money back until after like 7-10 years of continuous usage and that is as long as nothing goes wrong. So even then after cost you would have to do this regularly for years to really make the cost back.

[davidbeppler]

Next do how many gallons of fuel to fill a gas car. Start with the energy required to pump it, transport it, store it, transport it again, refine it, transport it again, pump it again, then burn it.

[vincentrobinette]

You would get much more, if the panels could be hooked directly to the DC bus of the truck. The conversion losses of going DC to AC, then, having the truck turn the AC back to DC, plus, the round trip charge acceptance losses in the batteries of the portable power station means, you got at best, 60% of the total output of the panels into your truck battery. The panels actually produce about 4X the kWh, of the rated output of the panels. If you could have connected maximum power point trackers directly to the truck battery, you would have been able to put 11.52 kWh into the truck, from the 2.88 kW solar array, which would net ~29 miles of added range. That big array on your roof, would eliminate the electrical cost of your daily commute, even in that huge Cybertruck!

[SolarYachtCompany]

We charged a Tesla Model Y with our SolarYacht. The SY had a Pmax 5kW producing up to 20kWh on a sunny day. We have a 80kW Battery Storage and can charge this 20kW directly to the Tesla with 3000W adding up to 100km of range

[WarpedSynth]

This is great insight and true experience on what others may not have the capability to do. But I appreciate your testing and methodology. 18 miles may not get you far but it’ll definitely move the ball forward. I’d say depending on your scenario will dictate how effective this is. Also there are features you can turn off on the EV to manage your demand.

[evahsia]

Per your Cybertruck calculation: 30m/day * 365 days = 11, 000 miles for a 3.57kW system.

For actual results, I get 10.0 MWh per year from my roof system (7.62 kW rated, eastern WA, 4.4 solar hours, ~83%). That will give me about 20, 000 miles per year at 0.48 kWh/mile in my F150 Lightning. (F150 Lightning is not on your list in the calculator, consider adding!)

[johnqcitizen]

Great video. I thinking of buying the ecoflow 3 and some panels to offset my electricity for my M3 and Mx so this video was right on target for me. I also live in Illinois

[tonyinfinity]

So 8 grand later for an Ecoflow, panels and cabling to be able to run on sunlight. I can drive about 100k miles on my Prius for $8, 000. Or just keep paying for electric at about $100/month to charge my EV and do that for 6.5 years. Ya this seems like it makes a lot of sense.

[paulroberts]

Hard to justify the equipment cost . Thanks for the info job well done.

[ripvanstinkle]

That was actually more than I thought you’d get

[macsvoltage]

I can't wait for dialog like : "Wearing this ring is like how a sinking boat floats".