An EV is the best thing that can happen to a solar system. It's a large, flexible, daytime load that turns cheap exported electricity into kilometres — provided the charger is smart enough to wait for the sun.
How much energy you actually need
A typical Australian car does about 12,000 km a year. At roughly 16 kWh per 100 km that's around 1,900 kWh annually, or about 5 kWh a day. Most households already export more than that — which is why "charge from solar" is realistic rather than aspirational.
Three ways to charge at home
- A standard power point — around 2 kW, roughly 10 km of range per hour. Fine for short commutes, painfully slow for a big battery.
- Single-phase wall charger (7 kW) — the common choice. A full charge overnight, or a solid top-up across a sunny afternoon.
- Three-phase wall charger (11–22 kW) — only if your property already has three-phase power. Rarely necessary for home use.
Solar-soaking is the feature that matters
A smart charger reads your meter and only draws what the house is exporting, ramping up and down as clouds pass. Without it, plugging in at 4 pm means buying peak-rate electricity from the grid. With it, the car quietly absorbs surplus that would otherwise earn a few cents.
Look for a charger that supports an excess-solar mode, works with a CT clamp or your inverter's data feed, and lets you set a minimum charge level for the mornings you need to leave early.
The switchboard question
A 7 kW charger needs a dedicated circuit, its own RCD and enough spare capacity on your main supply. Older boards frequently need an upgrade, and that's the line item most likely to be missing from a cheap quote. Ask for it to be assessed on site, not estimated over the phone.
Should you add a battery too?
If you charge mostly during the day, a battery and an EV compete for the same surplus solar. If you charge overnight, they complement each other. Work out your charging pattern first — it changes the battery arithmetic substantially.