German solar start-up Zolar and car manufacturer Toyota are bringing together what belongs together: photovoltaics and e-mobility are currently growing stronger than ever with the increasing electrification of mobility and the home – and now hand in hand. With their cooperation, the start-up and the car manufacturer are focusing on the development of sustainable scenarios for e-mobility at home. This will make it even easier for consumers to combine power generation, electricity storage and electromobility under one roof and make an important contribution to climate protection.
“The expansion of private charging infrastructure is a critical factor for the long-term success of electromobility,” says Alex Melzer, CEO of Zolar. “E-mobility and photovoltaics can no longer be considered separately – only together can we holistically shape the mobility transformation. With Toyota, we have an extremely strong partner at our side to drive the energy and transport transformation in the private sector even more strongly and to offer people simple solutions. In this way, together we can increase our impact on the climate many times over.”
“As part of our Beyond Zero strategy, the goal is clearly defined: decarbonization across the entire vehicle lifecycle – including manufacturing, distribution, use, recycling and disposal. Our all-electric model initiative includes the global launch of 30 new all-electric models by 2030. The partnership with Zolar and the associated option for customers to charge their e-car with clean and green solar power from their own roof will drive this goal even faster and completes our customers’ expectations in the area of e-services,” says Mario Köhler, Director Sales, Value Chain, After Sales & Network at Toyota Germany.
E-mobility at home – simple and sustainable
Electric cars are particularly climate-friendly if the electricity to power them comes from renewable energy sources. Photovoltaics in combination with a wallbox already enables homeowners in Germany to charge their electric car comfortably at home with clean and at the same time cost-effective solar power. A recent study shows that a good one in two consumers (43 percent) do not know how to charge an e-car at home. This is precisely the point at which Zolar is doing important educational work in the course of the cooperation, because in 2021, three quarters of all charging processes in Germany took place at home. The greentech startup offers homeowners very simple and digital access to customized solar solutions that enable the production and use of green energy around the home and their own e-car.
Holistic solar and mobility solutions
Looking to the near future, the cooperation is intended to bring the fields of e-mobility and sustainable power generation and storage ever closer together. In the future, it will be possible to rent integrated solar and mobility solutions from Zolar, including a solar power system, wallbox and e-car for the private home. With the new Zolar Compass app, which will be launched before the end of 2022, consumers will be able to control the charging of their electric cars using solar power produced on their own roofs via their smartphones.
Save around five tons of CO2 per year with solar system plus e-car
A photovoltaic system on a one- or two-family house saves around four tons of CO2 per year compared to the conventional German electricity mix. That’s the equivalent of six round-trip flights from Berlin to Mallorca, or 19,000 kilometers of driving with a gasoline-powered car. Anyone who also installs a charging station for an e-car and “refuels” it with solar power produced specifically from the roof saves an additional 1.11 tons of CO2.
