As a solar panel system owner, I’ve been concerned about how the auto industry has omitted some critical info about using an EV to power your home. When I purchased my PV system, I wrongly assumed my home would not be affected by grid failures (at least during daylight hours).
Little did I know, that to power your home, you have to automatically disconnect from the grid. This is a safety precaution to protect workers, working on the grid’s power lines. If added during home construction, the price of the disconnect is relatively small. However, after construction, it becomes very pricey. Of course, to use solar energy at night, you need energy storage, like a Tesla Powerwall or a Ford F-150 Lightning.
That I understood.
When we built our home, our home owners’ association fought against us adding solar panels to our house, because they “thought they are ugly.” Until Texas created a law that stopped HOAs from interfering with solar panel adoption, we were stymied. Once the law passed, we immediately had our PV system installed. However, the delay drove up the price of the disconnect to a point where we decided against the extra expense of that and the battery to store our solar energy, for an event that rarely occurs in our area. (Then, the Texas ice storm happened…)
I watched the Ford Lightning unveil, live from the floor of the Houston Auto Show’s EV display area and was excited to immediately see truck owners suddenly change their minds about EVs and electric trucks, specifically. However, I knew about the disconnect and wondered when the industry would “fess up.”
Well, Ford announced the actual cost of backing up your home’s energy with the F-150 Lightning and I’m glad they did. I don’t like “gotchas,” and didn’t want the negative press they would inevitably create, especially from the fossil fuel industry pundits.
Ford stepped up and detailed what’s required: https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/f150-lightning/features/intelligent-backup-power/
Costs for the prerequisites were estimated by Green Car Reports: https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1135743_ford-f-150-lightning-home-power-backup-system-price-installation-will-vary
