My array generated over 56 kWh's on May 1st. That's enough electricity to power my ActiveE about 200 miles in normal driving conditions.
Now that Spring has rolled in the temperature isn't the only thing that's going up; so is my solar electric production. My 8.775kW system can produce up to 60kWh's a day under ideal conditions. That's enough to power my ActiveE over 200 miles, or enough to power it about 100 miles and supply all the power my house needs for an average day. Pretty cool stuff. Powering my car and my house for the day on pure sunlight is really awesome.
Unfortunately because of where I live in the Northeast I don't get this kind of production all year. In the winter on the shortest days of the year I'll only get about 25kWh's even on clear sunny days. Plus there are days when the whole array is buried under a foot of snow so it doesn't generate anything in those conditions. However year round it averages nearly 30kWh's every day (about 10,000kWh's annually) which would be enough for roughly 100 miles of driving in the ActiveE.
The i3 with optional solar canopy from BMW
However the ActiveE isn't the most efficient EV on the road. Since it is a converted gasoline powered 1 series BMW, it had to be retrofitted with hundreds of pounds of steel reinforcements and BMW then needed to use a big battery pack (which added even more weight) just so it could have an approximate 100 mile range. By comparison, the upcoming BMW i3 has been purpose designed from scratch as an electric vehicle. That allowed BMW to create a lightweight and efficient electric vehicle while retaining the performance expected from all BMW's. The i3 will have a battery which is 30% smaller than the ActiveE yet will offer approximately the same driving range. The official EPA efficiency specifications aren't available for the i3 yet, but many expect it will go about 5 miles for every kWh of electricity consumed. Personally I average about 3.5 miles per kWh in my ActiveE in moderate whether conditions. What that means is an average day of generation for me (30kWh's) will power an i3 about 150 miles where it will only power my ActiveE a little over 100. So when I get my i3 it will use about 30% less energy and there will be more excess electricity left over to apply to my home use. That extra energy may just eliminate my electric bill entirely and bring me close to having a "Net Zero Energy Home" like fellow ActiveE driver Peder Norby has in California.
My solar powered MINI-E
I know I've said it many times here, but EV + PV is really a fantastic combination. Driving and powering your home on sunshine is really great, and certainly empowering. I can't help but believe everybody will be doing this at some time in the future, I'm just lucky to be doing it now. I have a link on the side bar of this blog that allows anyone to view my solar array production in real time if you are interested, or you can just click HERE. I think the Beatles were onto something...
