Solar canopy superchargers

[iMoe]

Greetings fellow electron riders.

I did a quick search on this for Canada but it does not seem that any of the maple flavoured superchargers have solar canopies. Does it make sense not to have solar power superchargers in Canada or should we expect this to be available in the future as a retrofit at some locations?

Thoughts?

 

[bluelines]

Greetings fellow electron riders.

I did a quick search on this for Canada but it does not seem that any of the maple flavoured superchargers have solar canopies. Does it make sense not to have solar power superchargers in Canada or should we expect this to be available in the future as a retrofit at some locations?

Thoughts?

The solar canopies would provide a tiny fraction of the energy required to run the superchargers. I'm guessing the cost of install is just not worth it. Over 80% of Canada's electricity comes from hydro, nuclear and non-hydro renewables, so there is minimal environmental benefit from it either.

 

[rypalmer]

Try doing the math on the maximum solar canopy size you can fit under the typical 10-20 stall Supercharger. Given a 20 stall SC site can draw up to about 1.3 megawatts, it's not worth it if you could just put the array on someone's roof instead. It takes quite a bit of steel to build that canopy..

 

[ewoodrick]

I'd also say that the low angle of radiation make solar charging a lot harder as well.
But mostly, it takes a lot of solar cells to support a Supercharger.

For example, if you are thinking about charging at 100 kW, then you would need 1,000 100W panels @1000mm x 700mm each to provide that amount of power. And then you would want to add batteries to allow you to charge when the sun doesn't shine.

 

[mongo]

It is something Tesla is using in their new larger plaza/ rest stop locations, but northern latitudes may be too far down the curve for fixed panel efficiency.

Tesla opens "Mega" Superchargers with lounge, food services, kid's area, and pet amenity

 

[mspohr]

Here are the solar panels at the Rocklin, CA location. Lots on canopies and a few on the roof. This is a Service Center and also a Supercharger (19 stall) location.
Don't have any idea of power generated/used. This is a sunny location in California at 39 degrees North.

 

[iMoe]

Thanks for the responses. Some interesting feedback.
I was under the impression that if you add solar, you also want to have some storage incorporated to it like batteries, and running in parallel to a wired grid. I was certainly not expecting 100% solar powered charging.
This will be a fun exercise to do on a spreadsheet