Volkswagen’s EV Charging Firm Electrify America Launches New Project for EV Solar Charging

Volkswagen’s fast-charging public network firm Electrify America has announced the launch of “Solar Glow 1”, a cleantech project in the Golden State of California. The 75 MW solar power project to be established in San Bernardino County, California will produce 225,000 MWh of clean electricity annually.

For the project that looks at charging electric vehicles with solar power, a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) of fifteen years has been entered into with developer Terra-Gen. “The groundbreaking of Solar Glow 1 is an important step towards additional annual renewable energy generation comparable to the energy used by over 20,000 American homes annually,” added Jigar Shah, Head of Energy Services at Electrify America.

“Electrify America has always been focused on driving sustainability forward, which extends beyond electric vehicles and charging and into the energy needed to power the EV revolution,” Rob Barrosa, Vice President Technology of Electrify America, while adding, “Our customers can feel proud that every charge they make on our network is backed by 100% renewable energy, and today’s groundbreaking of Solar Glow 1 showcases our future and represents our company’s values.”

Electrify America claims that it offers supply of 100% clean and renewable energy and purchasing renewable energy certificates to be powered by renewable energy.

The firm has been rapidly rolling out EV fast charging stations. It informs, “Since installing the first station in May 2018, the network has opened an average of four stations per week.” A few years ago, Electrify America began offering Plug&Charge option to enhance and simplify the charging experience for an EV driver. Even though the convenient and fast charging initiative has met with some challenges with a few EVs, the firm has been addressing the issue by making improvements.

In California, where the EV solar charging will come up, Electrify America is also doing community-centred work on EVs. It has made an investment worth more than $5.7 million in over ten California community-based firm that looks at providing support on EV education.