Episode 61 – Why Solar, Storage and EV Charging Are Becoming One System – with Sungrow

One Site, One System

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For years, solar, battery storage and EV charging were planned as separate projects with separate budgets. That is changing fast. Across Europe, CPOs are starting to design all three together, as one integrated system on a single site.

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The driver is the grid. New connections and capacity upgrades can take a long time, and some DSOs move much faster than others. On-site storage gives CPOs a way to keep building high-power sites without waiting for the next approval. Megawatt charging for electric trucks is now on the horizon, so the stakes keep rising.

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Christophe Lephilibert speaks with Christos Tsegkis, Regional Manager EV Charging for DACH, the Nordics and Southeastern Europe at Sungrow. Sungrow started out in PV inverters, then moved into battery storage. It now builds chargers from AC up to megawatt class. Christos sees first-hand how large CPOs are changing the way they buy and design charging infrastructure.

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The conversation gives a clear picture of how charging sites will be designed in the next few years, and what it takes to make them pay off.

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What You Will Learn in This Episode

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Christos shares what he sees from the manufacturer's side of the market:

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• Why large CPOs now ask for combined PV, BESS and charging solutions from the start
• How on-site storage reduces dependence on slow grid connections and DSO approvals
• What Sungrow's BESS deployments with E.ON Drive Infrastructure signal about where the market is heading
• How a field-level EMS and an intelligent EMS work together to orchestrate every kilowatt hour
• Why the Nordics, with early dynamic tariffs, show how energy management lifts the return on a site
• How the role of storage moves from peak shaving to dynamic power allocation once trucks charge at megawatt level
• What one piece of advice Christos gives every CPO before investing in storage