Solar and EV Charger in Towaco, NJ | 12.41 kW Array, Charger Seven Years Later

Towaco, NJ · Client since August 2018

Anthony from Towaco, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since August of 2018. He and Teresa started with solar and came back for a car charger seven years later.

34 panels and 12.41 kW

Producing by 1 November 2018: 34 LG 365-watt modules on a SolarEdge inverter, 12.41 kW rated and estimated at 15,865 kilowatt hours in the first year. The inverter is deliberately oversized against the array rather than matched to it, which costs a little at the outset and leaves the system somewhere to grow.

A ChargePoint on the garage wall

6 June 2025. Hardwired, J1772, on a dedicated 60-amp circuit at 11.5 kW – roughly 36 miles of range an hour – with a load-management module. The supply was run outside along the foundation and back in to the garage rather than chased through the finished interior, and the unit went on the street-facing wall. Both of those are decisions made on site with a tape measure, and between them they are most of the reason one charger installation costs more than another that looks identical on paper.

174 amps of 200

With the charger counted in, the calculated minimum service for this house came to 174.48 amps against a 200-amp panel. Twenty-five amps of headroom on a 3,850 square foot house – it fits, and it fits because the charger carries a load-management module. When the rest of the house wants the capacity, the charger gives it up. Without that module, the same house with the same charger on the same panel would have been a service-upgrade conversation instead of an afternoon’s work. That is worth knowing before buying a charger rather than after: the question is never simply whether a 60-amp circuit can be run, it is what the whole house adds up to once that circuit is in use.

Questions from Towaco homeowners

EV chargingWill cold Towaco, NJ winters slow EV charging?

Cold temperatures can reduce battery efficiency and charging speed, particularly when the battery is very cold. Preconditioning and charging while the vehicle is still warm can improve winter performance.

EV chargingShould I label the EV charger breaker?

Yes. Clear panel labeling helps homeowners, electricians, inspectors, and emergency responders identify the circuit. The charger may also require other markings under the electrical code or equipment instructions.

SolarDoes a bigger array always produce more?

Generally yes when everything else is equal, but size alone does not decide annual production. A smaller unshaded south-facing array can outproduce a larger one that is shaded or poorly oriented. Azimuth, tilt, shading, inverter efficiency and module characteristics all bear on it.