Electric cars and home solar complement each other, and a new alliance between solar energy provider SunPower and charger manufacturer Wallbox aims to make the most of it.
With this alliance, SunPower customers can choose to install a wallbox home charging station at the same time as installing their solar and / or energy storage systems at home, the two companies announced in a press release on Thursday. It is a step towards making electric vehicles part of energy storage in smart homes.
SunPower will also serve as the preferred wallbox charger and solar and home energy storage preferred supplier, further encouraging customers to consider solar and home charging as a package.
Wallbox Quasar, for bidirectional DC charging
SunPower plans to begin installing home charging stations for new customers in Southern California this fall and expects to add more markets during 2021.
The two companies “are also exploring options for developing products and experiences to further integrate solar power into EV,” including backup power systems and the integration of Wallbox’s bi-directional charging technology with SunPower systems.
Wallbox offers a unit called Quasar, which enables bidirectional charging, but is initially only compatible with the Nissan Leaf and its CHAdeMO interface. As a backup energy storage device, the Leaf would offer a multiple of the capacity of a Tesla Powerwall energy storage device.
Wallbox Quasar, for bidirectional DC charging
Though Tesla still doesn’t offer bidirectional charging, California-based electric vehicle maker Lucid has said its cars will have the technology right from the start.
Charging an electric car with solar energy at home reduces overall emissions because all electricity comes from a clean, renewable source. It could also reduce owners’ electricity bills – that is, after the solar system pays for itself.
In addition, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, which uses bi-directional charging to connect electric vehicles to the grid, could be a huge benefit for grid balancing, a California study found.
Ford is also preparing a range of solar and smart energy products to be compatible with its F-150 Lightning electric truck and other upcoming electric vehicles.
