Dominion Energy Home Charger Discussion

[Anoncoward]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I recently bought a 2024 Mach-E, and I love it. We are getting a lot of electrical work done on our house, including solar panels. We needed a new box to get up to code (old house), and folding the cost into solar made it eligible for a tax credit.

We decided to sign up for the Dominion Energy program for level 2 chargers. I saw an earlier thread on the topic, but it looks like it died in 2022, so I was hoping for an update.

First, are there any preferences to the three eligible chargers? We plan on hardwiring in.
https://www.chargingrewards.com/dominion/#section-2

Second, for those on the program, how has it worked out? Saved any money? Any unforeseen (or foreseen) hassles from Dominion?

Third, anything else we should know before signing up?

Thanks in advance.

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[Draco]

I signed up for the Dominion rewards program earlier this year - I went with the Charge Point Flex (ordered from Home Depot) - one of the approved models with a rebate (forgetting at the moment the exact amount - maybe $150?) and enrolled in their demand program which, in exchange for cutting the charger during high use times, get an additional rebate each year.

Over the summer, we had maybe a dozen demand calls - all at the time you would expect in late afternoons. Since I have the car set to charge after 10 pm anyway, it was not an issue at all. The Dominion website for getting the rebate is a bit clunky - I had to call their vendor to get the process pushed through, but otherwise it was an easy undertaking. My electrician who has done other work on the house charged $800 for the install - but this did not require a service upgrade and was just running the cable from the box. Having a level 2 charger at home is amazing - I have never use DCFC except as proof of concept to see how it works.

 

[AliRafiee]

Out of those 3 charger options, I would go with the ChargePoint.

 

[woody]

Purchase a "dumb" charger.
Do not allow utility company access to your equipment.
Charge from your solar array whenever possible. If your installer says you cannot do that, find an installer who knows what he is doing. Hopefully he installed at least a 200Amp main.
Set charge times in car if you must.

 

[Maquis]

If you use an Emporia energy monitor with their EVSE, it is capable routing excess solar to the car. Makes sense if the car is home during peak solar production.

 

[PilotMark]

I signed up to let dominion slow my EV charging and I'm supposed to get a $40 per year credit. I don't know if I'm getting that credit or not.
I've gotten several we'd like to slow your charging from 1 or 2pm to 4 or 6pm during really hot days. Did'nt impact me at all.
I have the chargepoint flex - it has worked as expected for 2 years. I use the car to control charging not the chargepoint. It can get confusing having the car and the charging controlling charging.

 

[woody]

If you use an Emporia energy monitor with their EVSE, it is capable routing excess solar to the car. Makes sense if the car is home during peak solar production.

An EVSE is just what it says: Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. The source of the electricity can be the grid or your solar array or even your battery back up if set up correctly (AC coupled, bimodal system, as an example).
An EVSE can use (excess) solar but it does not rout it. The EVSE is a delivery (supply) vehicle.
I supply electricity to my EVs from my solar array via my EVSE, using the system mentioned above (also have a critical load panel which I can use L1 supply [battery {backup} is not large enough to run L2 EVSE]).

 

[Maquis]

An EVSE is just what it says: Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. The source of the electricity can be the grid or your solar array or even your battery back up if set up correctly (AC coupled, bimodal system, as an example).
An EVSE can use (excess) solar but it does not rout it. The EVSE is a delivery (supply) vehicle.
I supply electricity to my EVs from my solar array via my EVSE, using the system mentioned above (also have a critical load panel which I can use L1 supply [battery {backup} is not large enough to run L2 EVSE]).

An EVSE signals the car what the maximum charge rate is. The Emporia energy monitor signals its EVSE to tell the car to reduce the rate to match excess solar.

https://www.emporiaenergy.com/blog/can-i-charge-my-car-with-my-solar-panels/

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