GoodWe announced the launch of the HCA Series on 9 December 2022, an AC wallbox with smart charging functions for electric vehicles, offered in single-phase and three-phase versions1. The company describes the unit as compatible with all EV brands and with its own solar and hybrid inverters1.
The charger comes in a single-phase 7 kW variant and three-phase 11/22 kW variants1. It is offered in wall- and pole-mounted configurations and carries an IP66 dust- and water-resistant housing, which GoodWe states allows installation indoors or outdoors1. Integrated protection against overcurrent, overvoltage and short-circuiting is included1.
GoodWe states the charger allows homeowners to charge an EV with solar excess energy, either directly from a rooftop PV system or through a battery storage system, and that it can be coupled with its solar inverters, or hybrid inverters and batteries, to form what it calls a full sun-to-car setup1. The combined system is managed through the GoodWe Smart Energy Management System (SEMS), which the company says includes smart monitoring and charging features1.
GoodWe is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange under stock code 688390, and states it has delivered more than two million inverters with 35 GW installed across more than 100 countries and regions, with inverter ranges from 0.7 kW to 250 kW1. The company reports more than 4,000 employees in over 20 countries and was ranked by Wood Mackenzie as a Global Top 3 storage inverter supplier in 20211.
| Variant | Rated output |
|---|---|
| Single-phase | 7 kW |
| Three-phase | 11/22 kW |
Why it matters for households
A wallbox that can take surplus solar generation, or energy stored in a home battery, and put it into a car rather than export it, changes what a home's solar and storage system is for. The electricity that would otherwise leave the property at an export rate is instead used to displace bought-in power for driving, which is where a household's largest single energy cost often sits. GoodWe's claim that the unit raises self-consumption and lowers energy costs rests on that substitution1.
The practical value depends on the rest of the installation. The charger is described as compatible with GoodWe solar and hybrid inverters and batteries, so the sun-to-car arrangement the company describes assumes its own equipment on the roof and, where fitted, in the store1. Households with other brands' inverters are told the wallbox works with all EV brands, but the source does not state how far the solar-surplus and battery-coupling functions extend beyond GoodWe's own hardware1.
Smart charging of this kind also sits alongside the rules that now apply to home charge points in Great Britain, covered in our guide to the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021, and alongside the tariff and flexibility arrangements that reward shifting load, set out in smart charging, flexibility services and reward schemes. For background on what distinguishes a smart unit from a basic one, see what is a smart EV charger and how does it work.
What happens next
No UK availability date, price or installer programme for the HCA Series has been reported1.