Unlock the potential of green energy from your home’s solar panels or wind turbines to charge your electric vehicle efficiently and sustainably with Solar Charging. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the activation and utilization of this eco-friendly feature.

1. Installation requirements

Before activating Solar Charging, go through the following requirements and ensure they are all met to guarantee proper functionality:

1. Install a Wallbox energy meter: Solar Charging requires an energy meter sold by Wallbox to be installed. Compatible meters are available in the Wallbox catalogue.
2. Configure the inverter mode: Your installer must set your energy generation system’s inverter mode to “Export” to enable the export of surplus green energy to the grid.
3. Ensure compatibility with other EMS: Solar Charging cannot be used simultaneously with Static Load Management, Dynamic Load Management (in multiple chargers setups) and V2H. However, it is fully compatible with Dynamic Load Management (in a single charger setup). Solar Charging is also compatible with OCPP. When utilizing both Solar Charing and OCPP Smart Charging simultaneously, the charging session limits will adhere to the most restrictive settings to ensure optimal performance.

2. Activating Solar Charging in the Wallbox app

After your charger and energy meter have been correctly installed by your installer and all the aforementioned requirements have been met, you can activate Solar Charging in the Wallbox app by following the steps below:

Step 1: Connect your App to your charger

1. Before you begin, ensure your Wallbox charger and Wallbox app run the latest versions.

2. Open the Wallbox app and log in using your credentials. You can easily register within the app if you don’t have an account yet.

3. Select your charger and wait until the connection is established. If your charger is not connected to the Internet, please ensure your smartphone remains within Bluetooth range throughout the configuration process. If your charger isn’t linked to your Wallbox account, follow these instructions.

Step 2: Setting up Solar Charging

5. Tap the Settings cogwheel icon in the top-right screen’s corner.
6. Tap Solar Charging under Energy Features.
7. Switch the toggle button on, and choose between the two charging modes:

Eco mode: Minimize the use of grid power while charging your EV by combining it with any surplus green energy available. Eco mode detects the green energy not used elsewhere in your home in real-time and mixes it with energy from the grid to ensure an efficient charge.

Full green mode: Use exclusively green energy to charge your car. The Full green mode will detect when surplus green energy is available at your home to meet the minimum requirements to power your vehicle. Your car will begin charging, meaning every charge is fully green*¹.

8. Tap “Save” to activate Solar Charging.

The Solar Charging feature is now activated with the mode you have selected. If you could not switch on Solar Charging or an error occurred, you might not have checked all the installation requirements listed at the beginning of this article. Go through the Troubleshooting section below to review your installation.

3. Using Solar Charging

To charge your EV using your green energy managed by Solar Charging, follow these simple steps:

1. Unlock your charger.
2. Plug in your vehicle.
3. The charger’s Halo Status Light will turn fair blue, and the message “Waiting for green energy” will appear in the Wallbox app and Portal.
4. Charging will begin automatically once the Eco-conditions are met, typically after a delay of 2 minutes upon receiving surpluses.

After the charging session has begun, if there are not enough surpluses for 30 seconds in a row, the charging session will automatically be paused and restarted once the conditions are met again.

4. Troubleshooting

Per the applicable local regulations, the charger’s installation, maintenance, and servicing must only be carried out by qualified personnel. Unauthorized installations and modifications will void the manufacturer’s warranty.

3.1. User Troubleshooting

If you have a compatible meter installed correctly but are still having trouble activating Solar Charging, it could be due to your charger not detecting the energy meter. Before contacting your installer, try these troubleshooting steps:

1. Ensure you have a compatible energy meter installed correctly.
2. Check if the energy meter is powered on.
3. Power off and then on your charger. Sometimes, the charger may not recognize the energy meter if powered on after the charger.
4. Verify if your charger’s software is up to date.
5. Close the Wallbox app, reopen it, and disconnect and reconnect the charger via Bluetooth.
6. For Carlo Gavazzi energy meters, ensure that the ‘Rx’ and ‘Tx’ icons are blinking in the bottom right corner of the energy meter screen. If not, try restarting the charger again, as it may not communicate with the meter.

3.2. Installer Troubleshooting

If the previous steps haven’t resolved the issue, the installer can perform the following checks:

1. Ensure the wiring between the charger and the energy meter is correct, including proper connections and continuity. Use the appropriate cable type (Cat5e).
2. Power off both the charger and the energy meter, then measure the resistance between D+ and D- (or B+ and A- on the energy meter). It should measure around 60 Ohms.
3. Check that the RS485 switch is in position T and the rotary switch is set to a position between 1 and 7.
4. If CT clamps are being used, verify their position and orientation.
5. Power on the meter first, then the charger, and ensure that the meter measures power consumption when the vehicle is charging with household appliances turned on. If the energy meter isn’t measuring vehicle or household consumption, it may be incorrectly wired or damaged.

3.3. Charging Conditions

Solar Charging initiates charging your EV once it fulfils specific conditions. These conditions vary based on your installation type and the Solar Charging mode you’ve selected:

Charging Conditions in Single-Phase Installations:

• Eco mode: Eco mode starts a charge with a minimum surplus of 2A (approx. 460W). The grid then complements this surplus for the charge session to begin. The grid will only be utilised while the charge starts, so a maximum of 4A will be used.
• Full green mode: With Full green mode, the charge starts only if the surplus is equal to or greater than 6A (approx. 1380W), as this is the lowest charging current at which a vehicle can charge.

Charging Conditions in Three-Phase Installations:

Solar Charging checks the total active power, L1+L2+L3. If the sum of all the phases exceeds the required power, the system will start charging, regardless of whether it is balanced. This ensures that the surplus of energy is used.

• Eco mode: The power needed is 2A per phase, or 6A (total sum of L1+L2+L3).
• Full green mode: In Full green mode, the charge starts if the surpluses are equal to or greater than 3x6A (approx. 4140W), as this is the lowest charging current of a three-phase vehicle.

5. Disclaimers

• Schedules and manual actions take priority over the Solar Charging functionality. When charging manually or on schedule, your charger will still use the available surplus and top it up with grid power for faster charging.
• Solar Charging might discharge your BESS (Battery Energy Storage System).
• The Solar Charging functionality is not available for Renault ZE Ready vehicles.
• The Inepro meters (sold only by Wallbox) will work with Solar Charging since a Modbus modification has made them compatible.

*¹ Due to changing conditions of the green generation availability, part of the session might not be in Full Green.