Pod Point announced the Solo 3S on 2 May 2024, a home EV charger that adds solar integration to its existing Solo 3 charger1. The company said the new unit keeps the features of the Solo 3, including a 5-year warranty, a Which? Trusted Trader Approved standard installation service and smart charging features such as Charge Scheduling, and adds solar charging modes1.
The charger offers three ways to use solar energy, according to Pod Point1:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Solar mode | Charges the car purely from excess solar energy; charging pauses if available solar falls below the 1.4kW minimum required to begin charging under IEC 61851 |
| Solar and grid mode | Tops up excess solar below 1.4kW with a small amount from the National Grid |
| Charge Scheduling / Charge Now | Uses available solar alongside a larger grid top-up to reach the charger's maximum charging rate |
Pod Point said the 1.4kW threshold comes from IEC 61851, the standard governing how EVs begin charging, and that below it charging will pause1. Setup is handled through the Pod Point App, where the owner activates "Solar charging mode" to configure settings1. The company also said the Solo 3S has an updated, darker design and will work with solar panels automatically once they are installed, so a home is "future-proofed" for later solar1.
"the Solo 3S includes solar integration, allowing users to charge their electric cars exclusively with excess solar power or with a mixture of solar and grid energy with our new solar charging modes"
Pod Point cited its own research finding that 87% of people are looking for solar integration from their home charger, even if they do not have solar panels yet1. No price for the Solo 3S, no availability date beyond the 2 May 2024 announcement, and no technical specifications such as power rating or tethered cable options appear in the announcement1. Pod Point's existing Pod Point home EV chargers range and the Solo 3 are covered separately on this site.
Why it matters for households
A charger that can follow solar output changes what a home's solar panels are worth. Without one, surplus generation that is not used in the house or stored in a battery is exported, often at a lower rate than the price of buying electricity back. A solar-aware charger diverts that surplus into the car instead, which is the cheapest electricity a household is likely to have access to1.
The 1.4kW minimum is the practical limit to understand. On cloudy days or in winter, a home's surplus may sit below that figure, and in pure solar mode the car simply stops charging1. Pod Point's solar and grid mode addresses this by blending a small grid top-up with whatever solar is available, so the session continues rather than pausing1. That means the car is not always running on solar alone, and the cost saving in those conditions is smaller.
For homes without panels, the relevance is timing. Pod Point says the unit will work with solar automatically once installed, so the charger does not need replacing when panels are added later1. Whether a dedicated solar charger is needed at all, and how solar charging compares with other brands, is covered in this site's guide to charging an EV with solar and its comparison of Ohme and Pod Point.
What happens next
No further dates, pricing or rollout details have been reported1.
Sources1 cited
- Introducing the Solo 3S - now with solar integration | Pod, pod-point.com