It's worth remembering that early adopters of new sustainable technologies have been travelling by electric vehicle for several years. Picture: iStock

The pace of change in our domestic energy and transport sector is accelerating towards 2030 when traditional combustion engines will no longer be available in the Irish new car market. 

It’s easy to be intimidated by all this State-aided upheaval, but it’s also worth remembering that early adopters of new sustainable technologies have been travelling by electric vehicle for several years.

Individuals and families are enjoying the real benefits of low0carbon technologies, and not just those tucked up in A-rated, heat-pump-aided houses.

I spoke to a range of householders experiencing the light electric that could soon be commonplace for us all for some real-life facts, figures and reflections.

Henrique Peinado lives in County Clare with his wife and two children. He has a 6kWp photovoltaic (PV) system (17 panels on the roof), a 5kW Solis inverter, a 4.8kWh battery and an Eddi hot water diverter. Linked in is a Zappi charger, which allows him to use his excess power, together with electricity from the grid, to charge his EV car at home.

“December 2 (2021) was a special day for me. Exactly one year ago I had my solar panels installed and since then it has exceeded my expectations,” says Henrique.

“During this year, my house consumed 8.74 MWh, but I have bought just 44.73% from the grid, with 55.25% of my energy throughout the year coming from the panels. 5.32 MWh was generated in one year. 422 kWh were diverted to heat the water of the house (equivalent to 211 hours of immersion tank heating, or 105 days if you set up your immersion to work two hours a day).

“My car was charged with 1.02 MWh from the sunlight. This is equivalent to 25.72 full charges. I, therefore, drove 5,660km for free with zero emissions.

“My electricity bill is now 50% cheaper and my gas bill is about 30% cheaper (as I used to heat the water with gas), over the year. In June, I was charged just €7 (in units) for a two-month electricity bill.”

Does he have any complaints about his PV/EV lifestyle over the past 12 months? “Sure, I have given 681 kWh free to the grid, as during summer months, my house was completely off-grid and I had no place to store electricity. This free electricity I gave back to the system could feed two houses in Ireland for 24 days (Irish daily consumption averages around 14kWh),” he says.

The Microgeneration Support Scheme has yet to get up and running, promising high producers like Henrique the return of the PVO, VAT and standing charges, inevitable on any electricity bill, however low the units used. However, even with the delay, Henrique remains enthusiastic with worthy principles behind what is acknowledged to be a high capital cost for EV and the installation of photovoltaic at home, even with grant assistance through the SEAI.

“I invested in PV panels and the electric car not only to save money, but to offset my carbon footprint. I am enjoying the benefits of free energy and zero emissions from now onward and not carrying the burden of offsetting the investment made.

“My house saved the emissions of 5.31 tonnes of CO2 or having the equivalent of 14.55 trees planted. I’m a happy customer and many people that followed me, installing PV panels in their homes are also happy with their decisions.”

Mark Burkley, also in County Clare, has also found the change energising but like many users of PV, has had to negotiate along in the best way to use the technology to suit his personal situation. He has seen his capital payback time decreasing from the estimate on installation. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Ardnacrusha.

“I’ve had solar PV at my house for just over two years. I have 18 panels ground-mounted in my back garden (6kW total) with a 5.8kW inverter and a 6kWh battery in my garage. I also bought an EV Tesla Model 3 in early 2021). The solar PV has been very good. It cost about €11,000 to install but I got the SEAI grant of €3,800 so net was just over €7,000.

“My array generated 4,500kWh last year which at day-time electricity rates of €0.20 per kWh meant it generated €900 worth of electricity. I only used €700 of that though and the rest was exported to the grid. In any case, my goal is to try and use it all myself since importing during the day is expensive.

“I estimated I will break even in under 10 years (less as electricity prices go up) and the PV also adds value to my house and improved my BER rating making it more saleable. Once the battery is full it heats the water in the immersion if needed but then exports any excess. I leave the gas boiler on as well though since it is too risky to run out of hot water on a cloudy day. The battery discharges in the evening and usually keeps the house powered until night rate electricity kicks in at midnight. During the summer months, I would generally have no daytime import from the grid.

“The plan with the EV was to mop up the daytime excess so I don’t export anything. But that’s easier said than done for a couple of reasons. Firstly I don’t have a charger that can detect and automatically use excess power. In hindsight, I should have got a Zappi charger that can do this.

“Manually adjusting the charge rate every time the sun goes behind a cloud is too much work and the risk is if you don’t then you end up either discharging the solar battery or importing at the daytime rate which would defeat the purpose.

“I normally charge the car at night which is half the price. Savings can be wiped out by importing during the day to charge the car. The other reason I haven’t used PV to charge the car as much as I’d like is that the car is often just not here for long periods at a time. 

"Even though I’m working from home, our EV is so cheap to run (€9 for a full charge of 500km) that it gets used for all the errands, school drops and collections and shopping — so while the car is in the driveway and the sun is shining it’s great, and I have had a week or two of free motoring at times in the summer, but it often seems no sooner do I plug it on a sunny day than somebody needs a lift somewhere so it gets unplugged again.

“Also, it seems on sunny days people want to go places like Kilkee or whatever! Automation for the charging control is something that will happen over the coming years.

“The company I work for is actually developing a product to do exactly that. But for now, for me, EV charging from solar is a bit hit and miss. There are too many factors to weigh — what is the forecast for the rest of the day, will I have enough power left over to fully charge my solar battery, how many kilometres do I plan to drive tomorrow, etc. It’s easier and not much more expensive just to plug the car in at night and wake up to a full charge in the morning.”

Fintan McDara lives in County Galway. Using both his PV and an EV he says that SEAI grant aid remains inadequate for this expensive technology. “I’ve had PV for 16 months (it was installed six months after I got the car) and find there’s no

real interaction needed. The EV is parked at home four days per week so I just ensure it’s always plugged in and the Zappi set to Eco++. That ensures EV is only charged during the day by excess PV if it’s available. In summer I can survive on that most of the time, apart from a grid charge for the occasional long journey. During the winter I have to charge the EV from the grid one night a week.

“That setup would not work for everyone, especially if the EV was only parked during daylight hours at home at the weekend alone. Our house also doesn’t have heat pumps for space heating so more excess for EV than others may have. I have a 5kW battery which in hindsight should be 11kW, but most of the appliances are scheduled to run at night. I went for the maximum grant funding available from the SEAI, but I wish I had gone for a bigger battery and max 6.5kW peak panels rather than 5.5kW.

“The costs for PV are still prohibitive, and I don’t think grants ever took EVs into account. There are newer houses built after 2012 which can’t get PV grants but PV would be ideal to supplement charging for those EV owners.”

Fintan’s installer was Solar Home, and his figures are: 37,600km in his car in 21 months = 1,800km per month at approximately 16kWh/100km = 288kWh per month. House+EV charger: Load in 16months = 11,647 kWh (PV met 7,252 kWh) or 728kWh load per month of which the EV used 288kWh per month. Fintan’s house is using 728kWh-288kWh, or averaging 440kWh per month or 15kWh per day.

John Murphy lives in Innishannon, Co Cork, in a household of four. “The reason we got the PV from PV Generation, was a mix of savings and environmental concerns, but I was well aware of the potentially long payback. But it has worked flawlessly since installing it.

“It’s a 10-panel mono-crystalline 300W per panel south-facing system. we didn’t get a battery as they were not really common back in 2018 but they are now. This made it much cheaper as the batteries are expensive.

“We installed a Zappi PV-compatible EV charger shortly after the PV install to capture more solar excess for the cars. 

"This has also been very good and works seamlessly. We have a ground-source heat pump and it’s a packaged system with the hot water within the unit, so it wasn’t straightforward to add a diverter like a normal immersion. We have had the heat pump since 2007 when we replaced the oil boiler and I think the newer ones have an option for PV but our one didn’t. We have full-year data since 2019. We have managed to use between 52% and 65% of the generated PV. 

"We have had an EV since 2015 and got a second one in 2019. So there is often one EV at home plugged into the Zappi soaking up excess solar. If you are home you can use more PV but it’s not necessary. It is mainly the 2015 Leaf that’s plugged into the PV and in the summer it’s almost totally powered from the PV. 

"In the winter there’s not much power available for the cars. I would guess we would use about 500kWh of the approximately 1500kWh we actually manage to use in a year from the PV for the cars. That equates to approximately 3000km of driving from PV.”

Barry Glynn and his wife Cecelia live in Castletown, Co Wexford, and enjoy the benefits of 20 panels and a 10.5kWh battery, installed with the help of Darrell Thompson from Clover Energy Systems. “Solar is a drug, you just want more power!” he says.

With a low BER, they recently moved their mortgage to a green mortgage with the AIB. “Our costings were €8,500 final cost, with a grant of €3,800 (old grant).

“We initially had 16 panels, so 5kW, a 7kWh battery and a hot water diverter installed in June of 2019. I have since added four panels and an extra 3.5kW of battery — so, now it’s 20 panels 6.2kW and 10.5kWh battery. We work around the system.

“During the winter I charge the battery on night rate so it can be discharged during the day. During the summer we let the system do its thing. My wife has it down to a fine art as she hates buying power. From mid-March or so the oil boiler is switched off as the solar heats the water. 

"The boiler is switched on around October. My installer took care of all the paperwork and organised the BER inspection. Some companies are refusing to do the paperwork and insist the customer handles that. The daily load can be from 10kw to 20kw plus. The majority of the power we buy is night rate. No power is bought during the good months, mid-March till mid to late October.”

It’s easier — and not much more expensive —just to plug the car in at night and wake up to a full charge in the morning

Some of the best bits from irishexaminer.com direct to your inbox every Monday.

A lunchtime summary of content highlights on the Irish Examiner website. Delivered at 1pm each day.

Discover the great outdoors on Ireland's best walking trails Start Exploring

© Irish Examiner Ltd, Linn Dubh, Assumption Road, Blackpool, Cork. Registered in Ireland: 523712.