1. Which model of electric car does your "friend" have andOkay, good point. I've used that "semi-trailer of solar panels" example before with people who wondered about solar powered electric cars. But that's what it would take to generate the power that the car uses at the same rate as the car is using it.
The person who I'm researching this subject for lives in New Mexico and has been a solar contractor for decades. He has access to plenty of hardware so it might make enough sense in this case. But I see your point. Thank you!
When you charge your car with solar power for those short trips, are you converting it to AC and then back to DC to charge? Or do you have a DC to DC setup? If the latter, I'd be interested in what sort of hardware you use. My friend in New Mexico is entirely off grid so is real interested in DC to DC.
I would propose that you're a bit confused. So first of all, microinverters have been around for a decade. They have their place, but also they have their drawbacks. The main thing is that conversion efficiency is affected by the voltage differences. So like when 300VDC gets converted to 240VAC, efficiency is a lot higher than when 30VDC gets converted to 240VAC. For that reason microinverters are only installed in case you're describing - when partial shading is likely to cause more issues than reduced inverter efficiency.AC microinverters are the new hotness in PV. They convert to 240VAC right at the panel on each individual panel. Better efficiency than hooking them into a DC circuit. Also with DC the panels are wired in series which causes a the whole string to go down when one panel is covered by shade.
Solar DC to charging an EV you have to convert the voltage multiple times and if you are using a normal EVSE then you need AC power anyway. If you are charging with batteries in the loop then you will most likely have a 48v system that's going to need either a step up for custom DC chademo or you're using an AC inverter, again making microinverters the best choice.
e. With the batteries producing the AC sine wave through an inverter; the microinverters sense that power and automatically produce slightly higher voltage. In this case when the solar is producing enough power to charge the car, the batteries will just be floating the inverter and the majority of power will go to the EV directly from the solar panels. I.e. the most efficient solar charging setup.
The battery powered inverter is only needed in order to produce a 60hz sine wave to activate the microinverters. If you have another idea on how to charge an EV at home on solar other than "AC input EVSE" then please describe it!I would propose that you're a bit confused. So first of all, microinverters have been around for a decade. They have their place, but also they have their drawbacks. The main thing is that conversion efficiency is affected by the voltage differences. So like when 300VDC gets converted to 240VAC, efficiency is a lot higher than when 30VDC gets converted to 240VAC. For that reason microinverters are only installed in case you're describing - when partial shading is likely to cause more issues than reduced inverter efficiency.
If you're using onboard charger that takes AC input to charge the vehicle, then it's a different story irrelevant to the original question. I will just add that you're making some conflicting statements regarding hybrid systems with both battery and solar inverters coupled via AC path.
I already did describe it. You charge the EV battery the same way you'd charge the battery of a stationary system - using an MPPT charge controller. For factory EVs that may be a bit complicated due to higher voltage and no easy way to get into the DC path, but theoretically possible. In the OPs case though the voltage is much lower, from which I concluded it's a DIY project so it's definitely doable.The battery powered inverter is only needed in order to produce a 60hz sine wave to activate the microinverters. If you have another idea on how to charge an EV at home on solar other than "AC input EVSE" then please describe it!
Didn't think soI already did describe it. You charge the EV battery the same way you'd charge the battery of a stationary system - using an MPPT charge controller. For factory EVs that may be a bit complicated due to higher voltage and no easy way to get into the DC path, but theoretically possible. In the OPs case though the voltage is much lower, from which I concluded it's a DIY project so it's definitely doable.