An EV is the largest single load most homes ever add. Charged from the grid at the day rate it is expensive; charged from a roof that is already generating, it is close to free. Getting that to happen reliably is a wiring and controls question, not a marketing one.
A solar-aware charger watches what your array is exporting and diverts it to the car instead of sending it to the grid for a fraction of what you pay to buy it back. Set to surplus-only, the car charges when the sun is out and stops when it is not. Most people run a blend: surplus during the day, cheap-rate top-up overnight.
Load balancing stops the charger and the house together exceeding your main fuse. Without it, a 7kW charger plus an oven plus a shower can trip the supply. With it, the charger backs off automatically. On most installations this is not optional, and we size it at survey.
Tethered units have the cable attached, which is more convenient day to day. Untethered take any cable, which suits households with more than one car or a future change of vehicle. Neither is better; it depends on your driveway and how tidy you want it to look.
If you park on the street rather than a driveway, a home charger is usually not workable: trailing a cable across a public footway is not something we will sign off. We will tell you that on the phone rather than sending someone out.
The questions we get asked most about ev chargers.
A free survey, a written quote, and an honest answer about whether it is worth doing. No obligation either way.
