This is how my fully automated Electric Car charging with Solar Power works:
I’m using Home Assistant which calculates how much solar power my PV (Photo Voltaic) system is producing and what is the total house energy consumption. It also considers the PV battery State of Charge and then it just adapts the charging current to the EV (Electric Vehicle) by increasing it or decreasing it accordingly. Everything is controlled by one home automation that is simpler than tying your shoes.
Table of Contents
⚙️ What I Used
This are the main parts and software that I used for the Smart Electric Car Charging with Solar Power and Home Assistant.
| Component | Description | Where to Get |
| Feyree Charging Station | Single Phase (There is a 3 phase version as well) | AliExpress Link |
| Deye Inverter | Sun-12K-Sg02LP1-Eu-AM3 12 Kw Single Phase (There is a 3 phase version as well) | AliExpress Link |
| Home Assistant | Tutorials where you can learn how to install Home Assistant. | Link 1 | Link 2 | Link 3 |
Few Words about the Charging Station
I bought the charging station above from AliExpress and I choose this exact brand and model Feyree, because it can integrate locally with my Home Assistant (remember that is my smart home hub).
And also because of the dynamic load balancing feature which actually allows changing of the charging current remotely without the need of disconnecting the EV changing the settings and connect again. And this is super important for maximum saving on time and energy.
The charging station cost me $222 US dollars because I used a $30 discount coupon. Here are some other important features about this Charging Station.
- This device can charge any EV with Type2 connector, so yes it can charge your Tesla, Mercedes, Ford, Audi, Renault, Nissan, Hyundai, whatever,
- It supports charging from 6A to 32A on single-phase and there are also 16A and 32A three-phase versions that should work as well.
- It has an IP65 rating which means it can work in any weather conditions
- It comes with a 5m long very nice charging cable,
- some clamps
- And RFID cards that can be used to unlock charging if you mount the Charging Station somewhere on a public place.
Adding this Feyree Charging Station in Home Assistant for Smart Electric Car Charging with Solar Power can be a bit tricky as the Local Tuya custom integration have to be used, and because there are at least 4 different Local Tuya integrations I did the heavy lifting for you. I tested them all and I found the one that is working very well.
Few Words about the PV / Inverter
I’m using Deye Inverter in my PV system and respectively for the Smart Electric Car Charging with Solar Power. The exact model is Sun-12K-Sg02LP1-Eu-AM3 12 Kw and it is a single phase inverter (there is a 3-Phase version as well).
In theory any PV system / inverter that is compatible with Home Assistant can be used as long as you have the needed sensors/entities exposed to Home Assistant.
Assumptions & Entities needed by PV system & EV Charger integrations
- Total PV Power: This is the total solar power the PV produce at the moment. In my case it is the: sensor.deye_pv_power (in kW)
- Total House Load: This is the total house energy consumption at the moment. In my case it is the: sensor.deye_load_power_x_10 (in kW)
- Battery State of Charge: This is how much PV batteries are charged at moment. In my case it is the: sensor.deye_battery (in %)
- EV Charge Current: A switc/slider that allows changing the charging current dynamically. In my case it is the: number.ev_charger_set_charge_current (Range: 6–32 A)
This is where you can get all the details
And here I want to share that I’ve made a PDF that go with this Smart Electric Car Charging with Solar Power and Home Assistant article, and you can download it for free. You will get everything that is needed with that PDF in one place with all the links all the instructions, the YAML code, everything in a step-by-step, concise and simplified way.
To download the PDF, simply follow this link: https://www.automatelike.pro/ev-with-pv
Then you enter your name and your email address, you need to confirm your mail so that I know that you are not a robot and you’ll sign up for my mailing list and the PDF will automatically download to your device. It’s yours to have. That way you’ve joined my free PDF club. You’ll automatically receive my weekly articles, news, updates and offers. It’s a free service, and you can unsubscribe at any time with just one click.
Smart Electric Car Charging with Solar Power and Home Assistant Video Tutorial
Prefer to watch instead of read about Smart Electric Car Charging with Solar Power?
A full video walkthrough is available here: