Photovoltaics Transforms a Family Carport into an Electric Charging Station

8/03/2023 / Austria - Ried im Traunkreis

The Dietachmair family has added a solar carport to their PV system and now charges their electric cars cost-effectively with Fronius Wattpilot.

Increasingly frequent extreme weather conditions prompted the Dietachmair family to purchase weatherproof protection for their cars. They decided to go for a solar carport that not only matches the look of their house but also fits with the functionality of their household. Their goal was to generate and use even more of their own solar energy, so they expanded the existing photovoltaic system on the roof of their house with solar modules on the carport. Franz Dietachmair and his family now directly use surplus PV energy themselves and charge their two electric cars conveniently and cost-effectively with their Fronius Wattpilot. This has transformed their carport into their very own green electric charging station.

Photovoltaics and e-mobility – the ideal combination

The Dietachmair family has had a home PV system for several years now and it has covered their energy needs well. The family’s energy consumption has slowly but steadily increased as the children have gotten older as well as when they switched to electric mobility. “That’s when we realized we wanted to expand our PV system. The carport was the perfect solution for us,” explains Franz Dietachmair.

Always charge at the lowest cost with Fronius Wattpilot

The new carport with photovoltaics now offers the Dietachmair family’s two electric cars protection from the weather while also supplying them with self-generated solar power. The Dietachmair family charges their electric cars sustainably and automatically with the Fronius Wattpilot, our charging solution for e-cars. “I use the Fronius Wattpilot to charge our electric cars with surplus energy from the PV system at the carport. Charging costs me practically nothing,” Franz Dietachmair says. He does the math: “My wife uses about 50 kWh a week for her car, and my car uses about 70 kWh of electrical energy. Our PV system produces up to 70 kWh on a sunny day – we can fully charge both vehicles in one weekend and drive all week for free.”

All this is controlled and managed by the Fronius Wattpilot. It makes optimal use of excess PV energy from 1.38 kW to 22 kW by automatically switching and adjusting in 1-amp increments. Even if solar energy from the PV system is not available, our e-car charging box ensures that the electric cars can charge with electricity from the grid. And at the lowest possible grid purchase costs – thanks to a wide range of features including multiple charging modes and an electricity price threshold users can set themselves. Fronius Wattpilot can be controlled via mobile phone or tablet using the convenient Fronius Solar.wattpilot app.

» In my opinion as an engineer, the Fronius Wattpilot is an ingenious development. I can use the excess energy to directly charge our vehicles. That means when the sun is shining, I’m charging the car. That’s free of charge and I think it’s amazing. «

Franz Dietachmair

Made in Europe from start to finish

When planning and building their carport, Franz Dietachmair and his family were especially focused on using regional materials and products from Austria. The streamlined carport structure is made of steel from the region, for example, and was also welded together using Fronius welding equipment from Austria, from the TransSteel 3000 series. With translucent PV glass modules from the Austrian company Kioto Photovoltaics, 8 kWp more electrical energy is generated each day at the carport than was previously the case. The heart of the system is our Fronius GEN24 Plus hybrid inverter: It offers maximum flexibility in self-consumption and also enables connection to a battery storage system.

Full Fronius power: A number of Fronius products were combined for use in the new solar carport. We’re proud that the Dietachmair family placed their trust in us when building their project and that they relied on our customized solutions – all made in Europe.

Sowing sustainability, harvesting solar energy

Solar energy is a central topic for the Dietachmair family, and everyone is enthusiastic about it: How much energy have we generated today, and how much have we consumed? Are the electric cars charged? What is our current self-consumption rate? “The whole family has a say in things here. Everyone has fun when we harvest cherries, too. At our house, we’re harvesting energy every day,” Franz Dietachmair says with a grin.

» Solar energy has become part of our lives. In our family, electrical energy isn’t just something that comes out of the socket – it’s something we produce ourselves every day. «

Franz Dietachmair

Energy self-sufficient with the power of the sun

The Dietachmair family already lives completely self-sufficiently from March to October with the PV system on the roof of their passive house. This adds up over the year to a self-consumption rate of 50%. To expand this even further, the family wants to add to their future battery storage, which supplies the household with energy at night, or to use excess energy from the PV system to generate heat during the transition period. Resource conservation and cost savings are clearly at the forefront for this environmentally conscious family: “It’s natural for us to turn on the washing machine or dishwasher at lunchtime – right when the energy is available to us for free.”

Energize your life: Like the Dietachmair family, many families around the world are currently interested in not only generating their own solar power but also consuming it. The range of applications is as diverse as the families themselves. This is where your experience and expertise as a Fronius System Partner and installer are needed: Our flexible products and solutions can be optimally adapted to the growing needs of your customers and to match their varying requirements or requests for system extensions. We are glad to have you as a partner at our side – because together, we can achieve the energy transition.