Solar Plus EV Charging in California:
How to Power Your Car for Almost Nothing in 2026

California has more registered EVs than any other state, and Riverside County is one of the fastest-growing EV markets in the state. If you own or are buying an EV and you are on SCE power in Temecula, Murrieta, or the surrounding Inland Valley, you are paying 17 to 34 cents per kWh to charge it depending on the time of day. At peak grid rates, charging a Tesla Model Y from 20 percent to full costs roughly $10 to $13.

With a correctly sized solar system, that same charge costs nothing. This guide covers the math behind solar plus EV system sizing, Level 2 home charger installation costs, how SCE TOU rates affect your charging strategy, battery storage options, bidirectional charging (V2H and V2G), available tax credits, and a real-world payback example for a Temecula homeowner with a Tesla Model Y and an 8 kW system.

How Much Solar Does an EV Actually Need?

Start with your daily driving. The national average is about 37 miles per day. In Temecula, I-15 commuters to San Diego or Riverside often hit 40 to 60 miles on workdays. Your EV converts electricity to miles at an efficiency rating measured in miles per kWh.

The most common scenario in Temecula: a Tesla Model Y owner driving 35 miles per day uses about 10 kWh daily for the car. Add a typical home baseline of 25-30 kWh per day and total daily consumption reaches 35-40 kWh. That is the number your solar system needs to match.

Level 2 EVSE Installation: What It Costs and What You Need

A standard 120V outlet delivers about 1.4 kW of charging power, adding roughly 4-5 miles of range per hour. For a 10 kWh daily charge, that takes 7 or more hours at Level 1. A Level 2 charger operates at 240V and delivers 7 to 11.5 kW depending on the unit, adding 20 to 35 miles of range per hour and fully charging most EVs overnight in 4 to 8 hours.

How an EV Changes Your Solar System Size

Under California NEM 3.0, the export compensation rate for excess solar sent to the grid has dropped significantly (from roughly 30 cents to 5 to 8 cents per kWh in most SCE cases). This means the financial strategy has shifted from overbuilding to match export incentives toward right-sizing to consume your own solar production. An EV is one of the best loads you can add to a solar system under NEM 3.0 because it is a predictable, schedulable, high-volume consumer of daytime solar production that would otherwise be exported at low rates.

Without the EV, the same home would size a 5 to 6 kW system. Adding the Model Y pushes it to 7.5 to 8 kW. The incremental cost of those 2 to 3 additional kW is roughly $6,000 to $8,000 before the federal ITC, or $4,200 to $5,600 after the 30 percent credit.

SCE TOU-D-PRIME vs TOU-EV-1: Which Rate Is Better for Solar Plus EV?

SCE offers two primary residential time-of-use plans that EV owners should evaluate. The right choice depends on when you charge and whether you have solar.

Battery Storage Plus EV Charging: The Optimal Strategy

The challenge with EV charging on a solar-only system is timing. Most California EV owners arrive home between 5pm and 8pm, right in the middle of SCE's on-peak rate window (4pm to 9pm). Without storage, plugging in at 6pm means pulling 7 kW of expensive grid power.

Battery storage, most commonly a Tesla Powerwall 3 (13.5 kWh), changes this completely. Here is the optimized daily strategy for a Temecula solar-plus-storage-plus-EV household:

A single Powerwall 3 (13.5 kWh) can cover most of the on-peak window home load and contribute 3 to 5 kWh to EV charging. Two Powerwalls (27 kWh total) fully offset the on-peak window and provide a complete EV evening top-off from captured daytime solar. The 30 percent federal ITC applies to battery storage when installed with solar.

Vehicle to Home (V2H) and Vehicle to Grid (V2G): Your EV as a Battery

Several EVs now support bidirectional charging, meaning the vehicle battery can push power back to your home (V2H) or to the grid (V2G) during peak demand periods. This transforms your EV from a pure electricity consumer into a mobile battery with 40 to 130 kWh of storage capacity.

For Temecula homeowners without a standalone battery like a Powerwall, a bidirectional-capable EV is a compelling alternative. The F-150 Lightning at 131 kWh carries nearly 10 times the storage of a single Powerwall. During a grid outage or an extended peak-rate window, the truck discharges to the home while the solar panels slowly recharge it during daylight hours. This creates a resilient, nearly grid-independent system during disruptions.

How Solar Plus EV Changes the Payback Calculation

The standard solar payback analysis looks only at your monthly SCE bill. Adding an EV opens a second savings stream: eliminated gas costs. Here is the combined math for a specific Temecula scenario.

A solar-only system covering the same home baseline without the EV would cost roughly $14,000 to $16,000 installed with a payback of 5 to 7 years on electricity savings alone. Adding the EV to the picture shrinks the payback significantly because you are also eliminating a large, recurring fuel expense. The incremental solar cost for the EV ($5,000 to $7,000 before incentives) pays back against gas savings within 18 to 24 months on its own.

Frequently Asked Questions