Solar PV for home - how much extra to add two 2013 Leaf S

We are getting two S Model 2013 3.6-kWh Leaf cars shortly. We are also getting quotes for home pv - I want to add-on the necessary panels to cover our historical kwh usage + the two new S units. Our contractor is doing the estimates on historical and our location, but I am wanting to make sure that he factors enough for the cars.

One of us drives only ~15 mi / day max and the other M-F ~35 mi / day and Sa-Su ~8 mi / day. Live on Maui - so no interstate trips : )

We plan on using the L1 chargers with our regular home outlets (unless necessary for significant kwh savings - doesn't seem necessary for our range).

What how many kwh / year should I target to add to my current electric consumption for this model of Leaf? We live at a higher / more shady elevation than the nearest PVWATTs station (shows 5.23-6.56 (kWh/m 2/day). Our Statewide GIS grip shows us in the ~300 cal./sq.cm/day zone. Have full East and some South facing.

I think I've done my homework, but looking for the newbie answer Thanks ahead.

First of all, congratulations on some awesome choices. Those cars plus solar in Maui should have you set for many years to come.

Your solar installer is going to be your best resource to evaluate shading and insolation due to upcountry clouding. It's hard for us to evaluate the pure solar issues, but we can help with the car charging usage.

Quick calculation shows that you'll need to add about 5,000 kWh per year to cover the two cars.

Reasoning: about 300 miles per week if you do the driving you've indicated, which is 15,600 miles per year if you drive that every week. In my own driving in CA, I get between 3.1 and 3.5 miles/kWh measured at the power panel. With your local hills, youll get less efficiency than that, but slower speeds on Maui should help some, and then charging at 110 V reduces efficiency further. I'm guessing that you'll get about 3 mi/kWh measured at your wall panel.

Mahalo (thanks) Boomer23!! I will give this info to our contractor.

I am certainly looking forward to the Leaf. By chance I took a long drive today ~55 miles rt with my ICE - got me wondering how easy it will be to aimlessly wander around driving on a lazy day. It was a once in a blue moon drive, but realize how nice it is not to have to think about any mileage restrictions. Pre-EV thoughts in my head... Oh well, for the greater good. Aloha

maui1 said:

Mahalo (thanks) Boomer23!! I will give this info to our contractor.

I am certainly looking forward to the Leaf. By chance I took a long drive today ~55 miles rt with my ICE - got me wondering how easy it will be to aimlessly wander around driving on a lazy day. It was a once in a blue moon drive, but realize how nice it is not to have to think about any mileage restrictions. Pre-EV thoughts in my head... Oh well, for the greater good. Aloha

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Hey Bra, at the speeds that are common on Maui, you'll do 80 miles on a full charge easily for quite some time. The batteries will degrade some, but you should have about 75% of your battery capacity after five years. See the Battery Aging Model Chart in the wiki http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Battery_Capacity_Loss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . The closest I could find to your climate was Hilo, but I think that's closer to your climate than Honolulu.

And on Maui, aren't you back to your start point again after any 55 mile drive? You'd be hard pressed to find an 80 mile drive, right? :lol:

By the way, when you get your LEAFs and you plan a drive from upcountry down to the valley, you'll probably be better off charging to 80% rather than 100%, because you'll get a nice amount of regen on the ride downhill. At 100% charge, you won't get any regen at first, so unless you have a really long drive ahead of you, 80% will work out better.

Good luck with getting your new cars. Hey what colors are you getting? I'll be on Maui for a week soon and I'll watch out for you.

And on Maui, aren't you back to your start point again after any 55 mile drive? You'd be hard pressed to find an 80 mile drive, right?
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Quite true - back to home base

Good luck with getting your new cars. Hey what colors are you getting? I'll be on Maui for a week soon and I'll watch out for you.

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We'll have one silver and one black - which is mine is yet to be determined :lol: