How Many Solar Panels Do I Need to Charge a Tesla?

Over the last decade, solar energy has grown in popularity as a way to supply sustainable, clean energy to one's house. Individuals have found enormous advantages in being able to supplement one's power cost, contribute to a green project, and even become more self-reliant by creating off-grid electrical systems. Parallel to this tremendous shift in consumer renewable energy, Tesla has filled a renewable energy need in the automobile sector by producing one of the most widely used electric vehicles on the road today.

These days, many of us are driving electric vehicles. Furthermore, why wouldn't we? It's less expensive, more enjoyable, and the technology has advanced to the point where you can rely on the car. However, you may be asking how many solar panels are required to power an electric vehicle. Fortunately, there are a number of home charging stations available, and by connecting them to solar panels, you can charge your car for a small fee.

When you consider the price of gasoline these days, it's incomparable. Today, as Tesla owners consider building these closed-loop energy systems, there are numerous issues about the criteria. In the sections that follow, we'll look at design concerns and present an example of how to use those considerations to calculate the number of solar panels needed to charge a Tesla.

Tesla Design Parameters

Before we can determine how many solar panels are required to build a closed-loop charging system for a Tesla, we must first determine how much power is consumed when charging on average. To figure out how much electricity will be required, we must first specify the following parameters: State of Charge, the capacity of the battery, and the desired Tesla energy demand.

State of Charge

The term "State of Charge" refers to the highest and lower limits of a battery's charge. For example, the typical State of Charge for a Tesla owner maybe 20% to 80%, implying a depth of discharge of 20% and a charge limit objective of 80%. Of course, the State of Charge will differ depending on each individual's specific driving needs. A Tesla owner who drives 10 miles to work every day would have a substantially different charge need than a Tesla owner who drives 40 miles to work every day.

For our example, we will assume a State of Charge ranging from 20% to 80%.

Battery Capacity

Another important factor to consider is the Tesla battery capacity, which varies from model to model. The Tesla Model X, for example, has a battery capacity of 100 kWh, but the Tesla Model 3 has a battery capacity of 50 to 75 kWh. Of course, due to the capacity difference, meeting a State of Charge of 20% -80% would require more energy for the Model X than the Model 3.

It's also important to keep in mind that all lithium-ion batteries have a charging efficiency of less than 100%. This means that, even if a lithium-ion battery has a capacity of 75 kWh, a Tesla driver may only attain 90 percent efficiency, or a maximum of 67.5 kWh of potential energy in the battery.

For our example, we'll use a battery with a capacity of 75 kWh. At 90% efficiency, this results in total accessible energy of 67.5 kWh.

Tesla's Energy Requirement

We can calculate how much energy in kWh is required to charge a 75 kWh rated battery at 90 percent efficiency (67.5 kWh) and a State of Charge requirement of 60 percent using the technique below and the previously specified calculation components (80 percent -20 percent ). This total in kWh will be used later to estimate how many solar panels are needed to achieve the specified energy consumption.

Total kWh needed = Battery Capacity X State of Charge = 67.5 kWh X.6 = 40.5 kWh

Now that we've found that the daily energy consumption necessary to power a Tesla is 40.5 kWh, let's look at how many solar panels are required for a closed-loop solar energy system to meet that demand.

Solar Panel Overview

A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell, is an electrical device that converts solar energy into electricity. Solar cells collect photons released by the sun's beams and transform them into electrical energy via an electrochemical process. This electrical energy can then be utilized to power household appliances or saved as potential energy by charging a bay of lithium-ion batteries. In our scenario, Tesla owners may profit from the usage of solar cells to capture solar energy and convert it into electricity, which can then be utilized to charge the Tesla battery.

Solar Panels and EV Charging Station

The combination of a solar panel system and an EV charging station offers various advantages and is a cost-effective method to create and consume solar energy. This sort of configuration is required if you want to set up a solar panel system that can generate enough energy to power your electric automobile.

Solar inverters are a critical component of this puzzle. Before most of your electronics and appliances can use the solar energy you create, it must be converted from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) (AC). This is also true for using solar energy to power your electric vehicle.

Finally, the charging port will be built and linked to the inverter so that it may draw power and transmit it to the battery of the electric vehicle.

How Big Is the Battery in Your EV?

Now that we know how to utilize a solar panel system to power your electric car, we can get into the specifics of how much electricity is necessary.

First and foremost, the amount of power required to charge your electric automobile is determined by the capacity of its battery. The battery capacity of an EV is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh) and can range from the low 20s to 100 kWh or more.

The improved Tesla Model S, for example, has a 100 kWh battery, but the BMW i3 only has a 33 kWh battery.

How Many Panels Do You Need?

As previously stated, the number of panels required will be determined by the size of your electric car's battery. However, in this scenario, let's use the basic Tesla Model S with a 75 kWh battery.

First, we must examine the quantity of energy produced by a single solar panel. A solar panel's energy production is determined by its material, size, efficiency, and a few other criteria.

A typical 250-watt solar panel will generate 30-42.5 kWh of alternating current each month. To be safe, let's pick the bare minimum to get a ballpark figure.

If a single low-cost solar panel can provide about 1 kWh of AC electricity each day, that means you'd need a whopping 75 solar panels to power your Tesla Model S from 0 to 100 percent capacity every day.

Fortunately, the average motorist drives 37 miles each day, which equates to around 12 kWh of power. As a result, 12 solar panels would be a more realistic quantity. Remember that this is a conservative estimate, so if your solar panels are efficient, the number of panels may be reduced even more. Furthermore, if you travel less than 30 miles each day, the number of necessary panels will be considerably reduced.

This figure is quite feasible for potential solar panel owners and EV owners because most solar panel systems comprise 25 to 30 solar panels.

Next Steps

When deciding whether or not to build a solar panel system, consider whether or not you want to add a home charging port.

Even if you want to buy a Tesla in two or three years, you should design your solar project with that in mind since it will affect the type of inverter and the number of panels you will require.

Solar panels are a low-cost option to power your Tesla, and you may need anywhere from 6 to 12 panels. You may use the averages as a starting point for your own study, and if you ever need assistance, please contact one of our energy advisers immediately!