Just the essentials
This quick tool assumes 25 kWh/100mi vehicle efficiency, 10% charging loss, and a 0.80 derate factor. For a fully customized result, try the detailed EV charging load addition calculator instead.
Solar + EV integration
EV solar panel count quick estimator
Just 3 numbers. Get a fast panel count estimate for EV charging in seconds.
How it works
Three steps to your quick count
Step 1
Estimate your typical daily driving
A rough figure is fine here, since this tool is built for speed over precision.
Step 2
Check your location's peak sun hours
This single number has a big effect on the result, so it's worth looking up rather than guessing.
Step 3
Move to the detailed calculator when ready
Once you have your actual vehicle efficiency and charger type, the EV charging load addition calculator gives a more precise result.
Understanding this quick panel count
Built for speed, not precision
This tool strips the panel count question down to the three inputs that matter most, your driving distance, panel wattage, and local sun hours, using reasonable default assumptions for everything else. It's meant to give a fast first number, similar in spirit to the quick financing comparison tool, not a final specification for an actual installation quote.
What's baked into the defaults
This estimator assumes 25 kWh per 100 miles of vehicle efficiency, a figure near the middle of fueleconomy.gov's range for efficient EVs, a 10% charging loss, and a 0.80 system derate factor. If your actual vehicle or system differs meaningfully from these assumptions, the detailed calculators elsewhere on this site will give a more accurate number.
Why peak sun hours matters so much here
Of the three inputs, peak sun hours has an outsized effect on the result, since it directly determines how much energy each panel can realistically produce in a year at your specific location. Using a generic national average instead of your actual location's figure can meaningfully skew the panel count, so it's worth the extra minute to look up an accurate number.
How to act on this result
Once you have a rough panel count, check the detailed EV charging load addition calculator with your actual vehicle efficiency and charger type for a more precise figure, or move on to cost estimation with the charger installation cost estimator. That question is exactly what the quick 5 minute system size estimator answers.
Questions
Frequently asked
For a 30 mile daily commute using 400 watt panels and 5 peak sun hours, this quick estimate comes to about 6 panels, or roughly 2.4 kW of added system capacity. This uses reasonable default assumptions for vehicle efficiency and system losses.
This tool assumes 25 kWh per 100 miles vehicle efficiency, a 10% charging loss, and a 0.80 system derate factor, which are reasonable middle-of-the-road figures for a typical efficient EV and residential solar system.
Check NREL's PVWatts calculator for a US address or NRCan's solar maps for a Canadian address to get an accurate peak sun hours figure for your specific location, since this varies meaningfully by region and affects the panel count result directly.
This quick estimate already rounds up to the nearest whole panel, but some installers add a small additional buffer to account for future efficiency loss or slightly higher than expected driving. Discuss this with your installer during a full site assessment.