A new study by scientists at the University of South Australia (Unisa) shows that households with solar panels and batteries have a huge savings advantage over electric vehicles (EVs).
As sales of electric vehicles around the world continue to grow, buyers are pushing up not only the price, but also the logistics and costs associated with improving green cars.
Unisa engineers have calculated that EV owners could cut their annual electricity bill by 40% if households weren't completely dependent on the grid and paid at home during peak hours.
In a new article published in the journal Renewable Energy , Professor Mahfouz Aziz and colleagues see the cost of paying electric car owners as a major barrier to choosing an environmentally friendly car.
“According to the plan to replace gasoline cars in the next ten years, electric vehicles will become an important part of household energy consumption,” said Professor Aziz.
“For drivers with private parking, charging at home is a very affordable option, but for those who are still fully reliant on electric power, costs can rise significantly.”
Lower prices for rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems and declining battery costs are encouraging households to "go green," but consumers need to consider many variables, researchers say.
Using data from South Australia, where more than 40% of homes have rooftop solar panels, the researchers compared different home scenarios, taking into account EV charging demand, PV solar installation costs, battery wear and energy export restrictions.
Based on the energy consumption of a typical household (17 kW/day in South Africa) and the average daily distance driven by drivers (36.7 km in the EU), the researchers analyzed annual energy costs for households with gasoline cars and households with electric vehicles. They also analyzed energy consumption during peak hours from 17:00 to 21:00.
“Essentially, all energy comes from the grid, with no solar panels, batteries or electric motors,” said Prof Aziz.
“With the addition of solar panels, it decreases by about 20%, and with batteries, by 83%, with the addition of electric vehicles, the energy consumed increases significantly, but the imported energy decreases by 89%. .
“Our results show that households with gasoline cars can reduce annual energy costs by 6.71% by using solar panels and by 10.38% by adding batteries. Replacing gasoline cars with electric vehicles can reduce annual energy consumption costs by 24% and 32%, respectively. At significantly higher pay levels, some reduction could be achieved (39.6%).
Yang Wu, Ph.D. study group student and co-speaker Dr. Mohammad Haq, the team is currently exploring cost-effective EV charging strategies for large clusters such as residential areas and university campuses, reducing the impact on electrical grids and distribution grid providers.
According to drive.com, the popularity of electric vehicles worldwide is growing rapidly, with about 145 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2030, up from 11 million today. Despite the pandemic, global electric vehicle sales are up 43% in 2020, although they account for only 0.7% of total Australian car sales.
However, at least 50% of new car sales in New South Wales are expected to be electric by 2030, and other states are expected to follow suit.
The Renewable Energy magazine published an article "Technical and economic modeling of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources to optimize energy costs in the face of export restrictions."
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