Solar canopies and EV charging.

At Osprey, we get asked about solar canopies a lot. It's an intriguing idea — harnessing the power of the sun to fuel electric vehicles, so let's look at the practicalities.

How many solar panels would be required to power a rapid charging site effectively? To put things into perspective, consider this scenario: powering eight chargers with an average of ten sessions per charger per day. To generate enough electricity for this level of usage, you would need a solar array spanning over four acres at peak output (image 1 below).

Moreover, energy storage systems become essential to ensure uninterrupted power supply during periods of low sunlight or at night. Adding battery storage, as depicted in Image 2 below, would be necessary to store the excess solar energy generated during the day for use when charging demand exceeds solar production.

A solar canopy over the chargers will therefore at best only power the canopy lights, not the charging itself. And canopies themselves have their own complexities, from planning to permissions to ground conditions. 

In most cases, a direct high-voltage (HV) grid connection proves to be a much more practical and reliable solution for powering rapid charging sites. This approach allows for a direct connection to the existing electrical grid, ensuring a stable and consistent power supply.

Whilst batteries therefore only provide limited additional capacity (unless the installation is huge), on-site storage can help at the margins to boost supply. 

For example, to allow installation of 125kW chargers on a grid connection that would normally only support 75kW chargers. This can alleviate the cost and time associated with upgrading the grid and make more high-power charge points viable on more sites from day one. 

The battery storage required would be much smaller (see Image 3 below). In this scenario, the grid is providing the energy directly for charging most of the time, but the battery makes up the shortfall of the grid connection at peak times.

And it’s coming soon: the Osprey development team is assessing and planning on-site battery installation for projects that would benefit from this.

Assumptions: 25kWh per charging session, 2 acres needed per MW solar.

Image sources: Vital Energi, Delta Electronics, Northvolt Power