The increasing demand for e-mobility is driving a surge in electricity consumption. According to the manufacturers, the average energy consumption of an electric car is between 11 kWh and 30 kWh per 100 km, depending on the model. Consumption calculations are therefore usually based on 15 kWh per 100 km. Considering the rapidly growing number of EVs, there is a need for robust energy systems, smart grids, and sustainable power sources to meet evolving electricity demands.

How can we use more electricity from photovoltaic sources? An easy-to-implement solution is solar carports combined with charging piles. Suitable Parking lots are widely available – at companies, supermarkets, leisure centers, apartment blocks, and family homes. A welcome side-effect is the protection of the car against sun heat, hail, and fogged or frozen windshields. The usage of bidirectional charging systems allows the use of EVs even for energy storage and grid balancing.

What does 1 kWh cost at a public charging station? You can usually expect to pay between 0.25 and 0.35 EUR per kWh, resulting in 3.75 to 5.25 EUR per 100 km (at the above-mentioned consumption). A comparable Diesel car would cost 7.50 EUR, taking a consumption of 4.5 l/100 km and 1.70 EUR fuel costs. But are EVs more sustainable than traditional cars? A recent study by the VDI, the Association of German Engineers, concluded that a typical medium-sized EV becomes "green" after 90.000 km of service life. Over the typical entire lifecycle of 200.000 km, their greenhouse gas emissions will be 55 percent lower than for traditional vehicles with combustion engines.

EV charging systems operate at high voltage levels and must be efficient and small-sized. Power semiconductors based on Silicon Carbide (SiC) are addressing all these needs. They usually come with either 650 V or 1200 V and offer shallow switching losses. As such, they can be operated at very high switching frequencies, which allows for a drastic reduction in the size of magnetic elements such as coils and transformers. The SICW40C120 by Diotec is e. g. a 2x 20 A / 1200 V SiC Schottky diode in TO-247. Compared to a similar device based on silicon, its switching losses are impressively 90% lower.