Transforming the family carport into a home electric charging station

08/03/2023 / Austria - Ried im Traunkreis

The Dietachmair family has equipped their new carport with a PV system and now uses a Fronius Wattpilot to charge their electric cars more cost-effectively than ever before.

Thunderstorms, hail and sleet – the Dietachmair family wanted a covered parking area to protect their cars from increasingly frequent severe weather, and also wanted to combine the practical with the pleasant: The newly planned carport with solar panels needed to not only match the look of the family home but also to be functionally integrated into the household. In addition to the existing PV system on the roof, the solar carport now lets the family generate and consume even more solar power themselves. Fronius Wattpilot uses the surplus PV energy directly and charges the family’s e-cars more cost-effectively than ever before. This has transformed the Dietachmair’s family carport into their very own electric charging station.

Solar carport and electric car – the perfect team

“Our energy consumption has increased in recent years – also as the kids have gotten older,” Franz Dietachmair said. “That’s when we realized that we wanted to expand our PV system.” But upgrading the existing PV system was not the only issue: After Franz Dietachmair and his wife made the switch last year to electric mobility, they also looked for a smart charging solution for their electric cars at home. “The carport was the perfect solution for us,” the family man says with conviction.

Always charge the most economical way with Fronius Wattpilot

The carport with photovoltaics provides shelter for the family’s electric cars in all weather conditions, while also supplying them with solar power – sustainably and fully automatically thanks to our Fronius Wattpilot e-car charging box.

While the solar modules on the carport generate energy from the sun, the e-cars underneath charge in the shade. And what if the sun isn’t shining? No problem. If no electricity is available from the PV system, Fronius Wattpilot supplies the Dietachmair family’s electric cars with power from the grid at the most economical rate – thanks to a variety of charging modes and an electricity price limit that users can set themselves. Fronius Wattpilot can be controlled via mobile phone or tablet using the convenient Fronius Solar.wattpilot app.

» I use the Fronius Wattpilot to charge our electric cars with surplus energy from the PV system. Charging costs us practically nothing. We can fully charge both vehicles in one weekend and drive them the whole week for free. Fronius Wattpilot controls and manages it all – I think it’s amazing «

Franz Dietachmair

A comprehensive package made in Europe.

The Dietachmair family decided from the start to use regional materials and products when planning their solar carport with a PV system. The steel for the carport and the light-permeable PV glass modules therefore came from Kioto Photovoltaics in Austria, and the carport construction itself was welded together with Fronius welding units from the TransSteel 3000 series. Our Fronius GEN24 Plus hybrid inverter is the heart of the system. It offers maximum flexibility and complete independence for the home while also enabling connection to battery storage. The Dietachmair’s carport, for example, uses a combination of multiple Fronius products. Full Fronius power – proving once again that customized solutions made in Austria can be easily implemented with the right partner at your side. We are proud that our customers place a high value on sustainable quality from the region and put their trust in us.

Family hobby: Harvesting solar energy

How much energy have we generated today, and how much have we consumed? Are the electric cars charged? What is our current self-consumption rate? These are questions the Dietachmair family discusses almost every day. The Fronius Solar.web app always provides the perfect overview. Solar energy is a topic that occupies and fascinates everyone in the Dietachmair family. “The whole family has a say in things here. Everyone has fun when we harvest cherries, too. At our house, we’re harvesting energy every day,” Franz Dietachmair says with a grin.

» Solar energy has become part of our lives. In our family, electrical energy isn’t just something that comes out of the socket – it’s something we produce ourselves every day «

Franz Dietachmair

Solar power for generations

With the PV system on the roof of their passive house, the Dietachmair family is entirely energy self-sufficient during the sunny months from March to October. At night, a battery supplies the household with energy and the solar heating system provides warmth. To even further boost their self-consumption rate, the family wants to increase their future battery storage capacity or to also use excess electrical energy for heat generation during the transition period. “We are electrifying our household more all the time,” Franz Dietachmair said. The focus for the entire family is on energy consumption that conserves resources: “It’s routine for us to turn on the washing machine or dishwasher at lunchtime – right when the energy is available to us for free.”

This is how Franz Dietachmair and his family are bringing more solar energy into their lives – in line with our motto, “Energize your life”. We’re excited to be able to use our Fronius products and solutions to assist these and many other environmentally conscious families on their journey to their own energy transition – because together, we can achieve 24 hours of sun for everyone.