Enphase
With any technological revolution, there must be innovation. For Enphase, that meant creating an EV charging station to charge your car right at home. Since its founding in 2006, Enphase revolutionized the home solar and battery industry with its microinverter-based technology and today is a leading solar provider in the U.S.
LEARN MORE ABOUT ENPHASE EV CHARGERS
In 2021, Enphase acquired EV charging industry leader ClipperCreek, which led to the launching of Enphase-branded EV charging stations this year. Enphase specializes in developing smart, grid-interactive charging systems that are innovative, reliable, and easy to install and operate.
If an Enphase EV charger sounds intriguing to you, you probably have a lot of questions: How does it work? How do I install it? What makes it different from public chargers?
We had a lot of questions, too, so we sat down with Jason Andrade, field application engineer and Enphase’s renewable energy expert, to break down the technology and what EV owners can expect.
What advantages will EV owners will have when they install an Enphase charger?
The first is convenience. They’re not going to have to go looking for a charging station. People have to plan their road trips around where they’ll charge.
When someone gets an EV, they typically look at solar energy for their home so they can offset their charging cost. By pairing solar and the EV together with the EV charger, they’re able to save money on their overall electric usage.
Is there a considerable difference between charging at home and charging at a station?
The biggest difference is when you go to a charging station, those stations don’t really care about what time of day it is or what the rate is. If you charge at home, it’s programmed to charge you at your lowest utility rate.
If you’re getting an Enphase charger for your home, you’re going to want to look at your home infrastructure and how much power your EV’s going to need to charge and choose from our range of four chargers. We recommend getting a site evaluation from an electrician or a solar contractor in that area who can come in to really help out with the installation.
What kind of electric costs come with charging their vehicle in their home?
It really depends on where you live. Where I am in California, it could be up to 42 cents a kilowatt hour. In some areas of the Midwest, they’re only paying 11 cents an hour. For each charge session, the homeowner is able to put in their local utility rate and generate their expected cost.
If your home runs on solar, Enphase’s IQ EV Charger uses excess power that’s not being used to power your home throughout the day. The IQ also provides high-speed charging (6-12x faster), an impact and crush-resistant connector, a 5-year warranty, Storm Guard, seamless and complete integration with home solar providing a single smart interface for both home energy and EV charging.
Do you need a solar home to use an Enphase charger?
Not at all. This charger can be used like any other standard plug-in appliance in your home. If you end up getting solar down the road, it’s easy to connect to the system and take advantage of those excess solar capabilities.
Looking ahead, what’s in store in terms of Enphase’s future technology to enhance the EV ownership experience?
We have what’s called bi-directional charging. What that means is your EV typically has a large battery bank. Larger than what the average homeowner is putting on for a backup power system for their home. In the future, you’ll be able to, if the power’s down, you’ll be able to power your entire home with your electric vehicle.