Dumb rules stopping EV owners charging from their own solar

Archaic rules are preventing electric vehicle owners in Queensland from being able to use their own rooftop solar panels to charge their cars.

In Queensland, EV owners are only allowed to connect dedicated home EV chargers to the grid during off-peak pricing periods via a special circuit that quarantines their car from their rooftop solar system.

It means EV owners who want to use their ‘free’ solar power to charge their car must either use a trickle charger through a regular wall socket, or have their higher powered charger down-rated to a slower speed of 4.2 kW, or 20 amps. But Queenslanders are getting around the rules.

“If you go to a Level 2 charger, you can put in a 7kw charger and have it rated down to 4.6 kW and that will give you access to your solar.”

RACQ head of public policy Dr Michael Kane.

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