An electric car charging solution topped by a layer of solar panels.
Turning sunlight into cash while helping the environment, and your customers.
The eTap can be tailor made to your car park to charge any number of electric cars simultaneously. Drivers simply need to pull into the available spaces, plug in, pay by phone and then walk away.
The eTap uses an evolt charging system with a regular 3 pin socket. This is because an industry consensus has not yet been reached regarding which faster AC charging plug to use. When the consensus has been reached the eTap’s sockets can be easily switched over giving it a 7.7kW, level 2 charging capacity capable of fully charging a Nissan Leaf in under 3.5 hours.
The power demand from the chargers will be met by a mix of solar electricity and electricity from the national grid.
In order to get the Feed in Tariff the panels have to be wired into the distribution board of a nearby building.
The supply of solar electricity is then shared between the building and the electric car chargers. Any excess demand is met by the National Grid.
Drivers wishing to use the car chargers can simply plug in and call the number posted on the charge point to operate the pay-by-phone system.
This is the simplest and most user friendly payment method available. Simply call up the first time you arrive to register your credit card and then every time that you stop at an eTap after that your phone number will be recognised.
Payment is made on a per-hourly basis with the chargers switching off after the elapsed time period.
Rather than risk running out of power electric car drivers are likely to top up every time they reach their destination. New electric cars are also fitted with sat navs which let the driver know where the nearest charge point is.
The result is that by installing a charger businesses are putting themselves squarely on electric car driver’s maps.
A solar powered electric car charger is not just about using clean renewable energy to power electric cars, it's also an innovative way of using government subsidies to finance an electric car charging infrastructure here in the UK.
The electricity generated by the solar panels will earn the owner an index linked annual return through the government’s Feed in Tariff scheme. Then, as the electric car market grows, the eTap will earn a further income from the electric car drivers who wish to top up using the chargers.
Compared to a conventional charger the eTap offers a more lucrative and immediate return allowing it to be installed nationwide while the electric car market is still in its infancy.
It is widely anticipated that by 2020 there will be 1.7 million electric cars on the road. We were interested to know why?
The world has around one trillion easily accessible barrels of oil remaining; if current demand continues this will last for approximately 35 years. However demand is increasing. In 2009 over 16 million new cars were sold in China. By 2050 the world population will have increased to 9 billion with approximately 60% of those people living in Africa. In the UK between 2010 and 2030 air travel is expected to increase from 270 million to 464 million passengers a year. All of this putting additional price pressure on a continually depleting commodity. Commentators predict that we could see oil prices rise as high as $250 dollars a barrel, more than doubling the price that British motorists pay at the pump. Petrol prices at the pump of £3 per litre could be potentially devastating to the British economy and the British motorist with it costing between £150-£200 to fill up the average family car.
As this reality starts to unfold people will undoubtedly start looking for an easy alternative, and the only feasible option that we have at the moment is electric cars. This is one reason why there are expected to be 1.7 million electric cars in Britain by 2020.