Charge your electric vehicle at home

[Updated on July 18, 2022] The energy transition on our roads is booming. Politicians and businesses are promoting electric vehicles; the population is increasingly switched on to environmental issues; and at the same time, more and more electric vehicles suitable for daily use are being produced. However, e-mobility is truly sustainable only when the charging current comes from renewable energy sources. To ensure that you can charge your electric vehicle reliably at all times and, ideally, using solar power generated on your own roof, we developed the SMA EV Charger charging solution. This allows you to convert your solar harvest cost-effectively and climate-neutrally to miles on the road.

Even in Germany, which is not exactly the sunniest country in the world, 12 square meters of collector surface on your roof are theoretically enough to fuel around 10,000 kilometers of cost-effective, zero-emissions driving per year*. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re an experienced solar pioneer or a newcomer to producing and “filling up” with solar power, because you can integrate the SMA charging solution into your solar system at any time – even retroactively.

Intelligently combine electricity and mobility

How can you know if your electric vehicle really is being charged with your own self-produced electricity? Simply by looking at the SMA Energy app on your smartphone. Using this app, you can easily control your charging processes and see at a glance how much of your valuable solar power is currently being converted to miles on the road. The app also allows you to keep a constant eye on the most important SMA Energy System Home data.

Cost-effective and zero-emissions driving

SMA EV Charger is fully harmonized with your SMA Energy System Home components. This means that your solar power professional can integrate the wall box into your existing PV system anytime, instantly giving you your own solar charging station on your doorstep.
But how can you refuel with solar power? Sunny Home Manager 2.0 uses regional meteorological data to create a generation forecast, which it compares against your own consumption behavior. It then automatically controls the charging processes depending on the charge mode so that your solar power is fed to your car, not the utility grid. This allows you to optimize your self-consumption and save on the cost of grid-supplied power. Combined with a battery-storage system, you can charge your car with solar power, even when the sun isn’t shining.

Perfect partners: solar power and e-mobility

When charging, SMA EV Charger automatically combines utility grid and solar power and can charge single-phase with 7.4 kW – thus almost twice as fast as conventional wall boxes, which usually only charge with 4.6 or 3.7 kW due to an unbalanced load. Even small solar capacities can be utilized to the maximum early in the morning and evening thanks to the automatic switchover from single- and three-phase charge modes.

Quickly ready to hit the road

With SMA EV Charger, you can choose whether you want to charge your electric vehicle quickly, in a PV-optimized or forecast-based manner. You simply enter your charging target – that is, your planned departure time and the amount of electricity to be charged – in the app, and the Sunny Home Manager schedules charging intelligently and at minimum cost, ensuring that your car will be ready when you need it. And because as a system operator, you want to operate as many loads as possible with your self-generated solar power, SMA EV Charger dynamically adjusts the charging power in line with the current circumstances, protecting your house connection from overload and power outages.

PV-optimized charging: If you have time to spare, SMA EV Charger enables affordable and CO2-neutral charging with electricity from your own PV system.

Forecast-based charging: When you enter the charging target in the SMA Energy app, Sunny Home Manager 2.0 intelligently schedules charging, which minimizes your charging costs at the scheduled departure time.

Fast charging: When you are in a hurry, SMA EV Charger enables charging with the maximum available charging power. For this purpose, it uses utility grid and solar power.

Benefits of SMA EV Charger at a glance

Maximum use of self-produced solar energy
Faster charging of your electric vehicle
More cost-effective charging thanks to intelligent charging modes
Zero-emissions mobility
High level of safety thanks to power outage protection
Connecting up to three SMA EV Chargers to one Sunny Home Manager 2.0
Fast and automatic service with SMA Smart Connected
System solution from a single source

*Based on the following assumptions: Renault Zoe consumption (18 kWh/100 km); 6 m²/kWp collector surface; annual yield of 950 kWh/kWp, date: January 2020.

Market outlook for electric vehicles

According to a study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, by 2030, more electric vehicles could be sold than vehicles with combustion engines, a trend encouraged by regulatory pressure and the rapidly falling price of batteries. As electric vehicles, the BCG includes battery-powered and hybrid vehicles.The market now offers more and more affordable all-electric models capable of traveling the kinds of distances most people travel every day. The charging infrastructure is also being expanded across Europe. This means that charging while away from home is more convenient, cost-effective and transparent, making it increasingly possible to take your electric vehicle on vacation.

Coupling with PV system for greater cost-effectiveness

According to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), most electric vehicles (80%) are charged at home. This can be done in an especially cost-efficient and sustainable manner using solar power from your own roof. At around 11 cents per kilowatt hour, it costs just a fraction of the usual household electricity price. The first 18 months of field experience with the SMA EV Charger charging solution confirm this. More than half of the energy for charging electric vehicles with the SMA EV Charger comes from solar power from own roofs (learn more about field experience in this blog post). Anyone looking to reduce their carbon footprint is already doing the right thing by purchasing an electric vehicle. According to a recent study of the Technical University of Eindhoven, the carbon footprint of electric vehicles including battery production and power consumption is already today significantly smaller than that of diesel or gasoline cars. The authors assume 75 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent per kilowatt hour of battery capacity and a service life of approximately 250,000 kilometers for the electric vehicle and the battery. Since the share of renewable energies in the fuel mix is also increasing, the CO₂ backpack of the electric vehicles will be smaller. Public charging stations already offer 100% renewable electricity to some extent. And those who refuel with solar power from their own roof are playing a pioneering role at the forefront of environmental change.

Details about the SMA charging solution

Nie wieder Stromkosten: Unsere eigene Solaranlage

Zero Cost Electricity Bill – My Solar Journey Part II

SMA EV Charger & Co. – das bringen die neuen Updates

Service tip: SMA EV Charger etc. – The Benefits of the Latest Updates

SMA EV Charger: your questions, our answers

17 Comments

Ewen Gellie says:
22. Sep. 2020 at 08:40

Hi, I was seriously considering this and devouring the English content… until I got to the graphs. Which SMA consider important enough to include for their German-speaking customers, but not important enough to translate for English speaking customers. If I am to spend money to upgrade my SunnyBoy system, then I would value SMA taking the time and making the effort to offer me the same information offered to German-speaking customers. I think it reflects poorly on SMA.
Reply
- Anke Baars says:
  12. Oct. 2020 at 17:16
  
  Hi Ewen,
  Sorry for that and thank you for the reminder. We changed the graphs to English. Of course we love to hear from our customers all over the world.
  Kind regards,
  Anke
  Reply
Dick W says:
22. Sep. 2020 at 16:28

Hi there – interested as i currently have a 2.88 Solar array using a SMA SB3000hf with 12 x Sanyo Hit-n240se10’s complete with solarimmension electronics to heat up my hot water via excess generation instead of export to the grid – would i benefit from this new charger system with an electric car – i produce on average 2400Kwh/pa !?
Reply
- Anke Baars says:
  12. Oct. 2020 at 17:34
  
  Hi Dick,
  Thanks for your interest in the SMA EV Charger. The SMA EV Charger was developed especially for the interaction with a solar system and is perfectly suited to charge excess solar power directly into the vehicle instead of feeding it into the grid. Regarding your system´s size, I´m not sure if it provides enough surplus solar power to charge your electric vehicle. It would be best to discuss your requirements with an installer.
  I hope this helps.
  Kind regards,
  Anke
  Reply
John Young says:
9. Mar. 2021 at 15:35

I have the following solar panel installation:
PV system power: 4.200 kWp
Communication: Sunny Home Manager 2.0 sn:3006126654 running software 2.05.9.R
Inverter: Sunny Boy 4.0 1AV-41 sn:3004180932 running software 3.00.7.R
Battery Store inverter: Sunny Boy Storage 3.7 sn:3006317318 running software 3.00.29.R
BYD 10.2kw
To work alongside my system I have recently had fitted an ev charger: SMA EV CHARGER 7.4 sn:3010443071 running on software 1.01.28.R and now own an electric Honda E 35.5 kWh lithium-ion ev.
Unfortunately when I try to manage charging at a cheaper overnight tariff (00:30 to 04:30) my vehicle does not wake up, also it refuses to use anything but the boost/fast charge and won’t use smart charging mode.
I have tried the suggested work rounds from the operators manual of locking/unlocking the Honda E using its remote but this only very occasionally works. I have returned the car to the Honda dealer where the diagnostic machine shows the vehicle software is up to date. I’ve had my SMA installer out twice to check the charger/system.
Have SMA tried to charge a Honda E and succeeded?
Is there anything you could suggest?
I’m beginning to lose faith in being an early adopter of ev!!
Any help would be most appreciated.
Best regards
John Young
Reply
- Christiane Keim says:
  11. Mar. 2021 at 16:07
  
  Hello John,
  
  Please contact us via our SMA Online Service Center for further support.
  
  Sunny regards
  Christiane
  Reply
- Christiane Keim says:
  15. Mar. 2021 at 14:56
  
  Hello John
  
  In addition to the support of our SMA Service and the answer given to you in our German section, please note that we haven’t done any charging tests with the Honda E yet.
  As soon as we have clarified this with our R&D, we will get back to you.
  
  Best regards
  Christiane
  Reply
- Christer says:
  5. Jun. 2022 at 08:27
  
  How did this go? I have a similar setup and also an SBS 3.7. I have problems charging an Audi A6 tfsi e all three modes create problems except when there is a lot of surplus from the sun. Is this an EV Charger problem or a Home Manager 2.0 problem?
  Reply
  - Christiane Keim says:
    8. Jun. 2022 at 13:37
    
    Hello Christer,
    
    Please contact our SMA Service.
    We need more details for further support.
    
    Thank you.
    
    Sunny regards
    Christiane
Richard Orme says:
21. Mar. 2021 at 15:10

I have an existing Sunny Boy Inverter based system with Sunny Boy Storage and 10kWh battery. It has a Energy Meter (although I originally asked for the Home Manager) and I wish to add a charger for an electric car. I am struggling to get anyone to quote for fitting the EV Charger, they all come back with prices for other manufacturer’s products and suggest it would be prohibitively expensive to change the Energy Meter to the Home Manager. I find this very difficult to believe.
I have a EV electricity tariff and want to take advantage of that to charge my car overnight but also to top up my solar battery at attractive rates for use in the day during dull weather. From your literature, I should expect this is possible by changing the Energy Meter to the Home Manager 2 and adding the EV Charger. Is this correct and do I need to also purchase additional software? Is the Data Manager Lite an alternative solution? What would be the advantages/disadvantages of that or other solutions?
Reply
- Christiane Keim says:
  13. Apr. 2021 at 14:03
  
  Hello Richard,
  
  Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you.
  If you want to retrofit a wallbox or charging station for your electric car using the SMA EV Charger, this can only be realized with the Sunny Home Manager 2.0 in case you want to use all functionalities offered.
  The Data Manager Lite cannot be used in such a combination.
  In case you are thinking about using the former Sunny Home Manager please consider that this allows only the use of the SMA EV Charger as a standard wallbox.
  
  You have mentionned problems in finding an installer? Please let us know your country, so we may help you in that matter.
  
  Sunny regards
  Christiane
  Reply
mariusz says:
1. May. 2021 at 21:42

Hi
If I have a SolarEdge solar system, is it possible to connect a charger that uses excess sun?
What do I have to buy for the loader itself?
Regards
Mariusz
Reply
- Christiane Keim says:
  10. May. 2021 at 11:30
  
  Hello Mariusz,
  
  Please contact our SMA Service via our SMA Online Service Center for further help.
  In order to support you the best way possible, we need some more information on your planned system.
  
  Kind regards
  Christiane
  Reply
Nick Shaw says:
24. Feb. 2022 at 10:02

I have an SMA sunny boy 4.0 and SMA home manager 2.0. installed last year. I also want to install a car charger and would like one from SMA for compatibility. I cannot install one on a wall as it is 15 metres from our car parking area so need a pole mounted charger. Do SMA now make one or are there other compatible options? Thanks.
Reply
- SMA Solar says:
  4. Mar. 2022 at 11:07
  
  Hello Nick,
  
  a list of compatible devices with your Sunny Home Manager 2.0 can be found here. Unfortunately we don’t offer other chargers at present.
  
  Sunny regards!
  Reply
Bart Biernaux says:
11. Mar. 2022 at 19:37

Hi,
I’m very much interested in your system(s),
but a main thing that I’m very curious about:
Can the EV Charger and Sunny Island be used together and more specifically can the battery of the car be used as (a part of) the battery for the home?

Thank you in advance,
Kind regards,
Bart
Reply
- Christiane Keim says:
  15. Mar. 2022 at 13:42
  
  Hello Bart,
  
  Thanks for your kind feedback.
  The SMA EV Charger is designed for the set-up described here (please check the technical drawing below).
  
  Sunny regards
  Christiane
  Reply