Panels, battery, and EV charger.
If you have an EV or plan one in the next two years, doing the panels, battery, and Level-2 charger as one integrated install is meaningfully cheaper than coming back later.
An EV charged from your own solar costs roughly 3¢/mile in fuel — compared to about 13–18¢/mile for gasoline at typical prices. Bundling the EV charger install with solar saves $1,500–3,000 in electrical work and avoids the disruption of pulling permits twice.
When this configuration is the right answer
- You already have an EV and you're charging on a 120V outlet (10–12 hours overnight to add 50 miles). Level-2 charging cuts that to 4–5 hours.
- You're planning to buy an EV in the next 1–2 years. Pre-wiring and installing the charger now is meaningfully cheaper than coming back later.
- You want to maximize the federal ITC. The 30% federal credit applies to the EV charger when it's bundled with solar. Standalone EV chargers don't qualify the same way (they have their own federal credit but with different terms).
- Your electrical panel needs an upgrade anyway. Adding solar, battery, and EV charger as one project lets the installer right-size the panel upgrade once.
When you should skip the EV charger for now
- You have no EV and no plans to buy one within 2 years.
- You already have a Level-2 charger from a previous install.
- You drive low miles and overnight 120V charging meets your needs.
In any of these cases, ask the installer to pre-wire for an EV charger anyway — running conduit and a 240V circuit to the garage during the solar install adds a few hundred dollars. Coming back to do it later costs $1,500–3,000.
Charger options
Tesla Wall Connector. Best fit if you have or are planning a Tesla. Works with non-Tesla EVs via NACS-to-J1772 adapter. ~$500.
ChargePoint Home Flex. Universal J1772 plug, works with all non-Tesla EVs and Tesla via included adapter. App-controlled scheduling. ~$700.
Wallbox Pulsar Plus. Compact form factor, strong app, works with all EVs. ~$700.
Enphase IQ EV Charger. Integrates with Enphase solar + battery system for unified app and intelligent solar-charging coordination. ~$800.
What's in this configuration
Everything in the panels + battery configuration (panels, inverter, racking, battery, transfer switch, critical loads subpanel), plus: Level-2 EV charger (typically 7.6 kW or 11.5 kW output), 240V circuit run from your main panel to the garage, mounting and weatherproofing if installing outside, electrical panel upgrade if your existing panel can't handle the additional load (typical add: $2,000–4,000).
The math on solar-fueled driving
A typical EV uses about 30 kWh per 100 miles. Driving 12,000 miles per year requires about 3,600 kWh of charging — roughly 30% of what an average residential solar system produces. If your installer sizes the system to cover both home consumption and EV charging, the EV essentially "drives free" on your existing roof investment.
This is part of why we recommend up-sizing the solar array when you add EV charging — typically an extra 2–3 kW of panels above what you'd install for home-only consumption. The marginal cost per added kW is much lower than installing those panels later.