Tumwater to purchase solar-powered EV charger in cloudy western Washington

The City of Tumwater in western Washington, an area of the state notorious for its cloudy weather throughout most of the year, plans to test a solar-powered electric vehicle charging station.

The Tumwater City Council unanimously voted on July 2 to approve the purchase and installation of the two-port solar charger known as the EV ARC system, which will be off-grid, backed up by a battery, and meet accessibility standards issued under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Alyssa Wood, sustainability coordinator for the city, told the council the charging station to be located in Pioneer Park can also power up electric bikes and wheelchairs.

“This will be especially helpful in areas where we don’t have existing electrical capacity, or we don’t want to trench through things like athletic fields,” Wood said. “This is a pilot, so it has the opportunity to scale up if successful.”

Wood noted that Pierce County has expressed interest in the project.

To fund the charger, the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded Tumwater an $87,052 grant, which includes pre-paying for six years of operation, maintenance, and warranty.

The city matched that grant with $12,742 from its General Fund allocation for Sustainability Initiatives.

Charging under the shade of the 4.3 kW solar array will be free, but Tumwater may charge for use after the six years are up.

“The anticipated ongoing costs for operations and maintenance of the unit will be paid for by city budget funds, potentially through revenue raised by enrollment in the Washington Department of Ecology Clean Fuels Program,” Tumwater Communications Manager Jason Wettstein told The Center Square.

Beam Global manufactures solar-powered charging stations out of its San Diego-based facility.

The Center Square contacted Beam Global for comment about the Tumwater project and received an email response that said, in part, “The EV ARC is ADA compliant and can withstand winds of up to 120 miles per hour. The EV ARC's battery storage allows it to charge EVs day or night, even during periods of cloudiness, power and grid outages, or inclement weather.”

Earlier this year, BEAM Global announced a $7.4 million order from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 88 EV ARC charging systems in 16 states. Washington is not one of those states.

During the July 2 Tumwater City Council meeting, one council member asked about the effectiveness of solar-powered charging stations in often overcast western Washington.

“Is it possible someone goes to use it, and the battery is drained from consecutive users, and it’s cloudy that day, and it doesn’t work?” asked Councilmember Michael Althauser.

“The unit is expected to give about 300 miles of charge every day,” Wood responded, without addressing the cloudy day reference.

Why Tumwater for the pilot program?

“I will admit that through my entire career, I have been trying to get this unit,” said Wood, who was hired by Tumwater in 2022 after spending the previous four years working for Hallandale Beach, Fla., serving as their sustainability and resiliency officer.

“This is an outstanding accomplishment,” councilmember Joan Cathey said. “It makes me very proud, and proud of Tumwater.”

According to Beam Global's information sheet for its EV ARC system, the device is capable of charging "up to 265 e-miles in a single day," but it added a footnote that reads, "Range will vary based on local conditions." The solar panel industry acknowledges that cloud cover can reduce a solar panel's output efficiency to about 10-25% of its normal power production, according to solar panel manufacturer Panasonic.

Assuming Beam Global’s specifications are accurate, 265 e-miles would be just enough power to charge one standard Tesla Model 3 – the nation's most popular EV in 2022 – and its 279-e-mile battery capacity.

After providing an initial comment on the product's benefits, representatives from Beam Global didn't respond to questions about how Tumwater's cloudy weather might negate power output or how long it would take solar panels to recharge the EV ARC's 40kW battery before it could service another customer.

Todd Myers, vice president for research at the Center for the Environment at the Washington Policy Center think tank, said the push for solar-powered EV charging in Washington will not be cost-effective.

“These things are extremely expensive and yield very tiny amounts of electricity,” said Myers, who suggests backers are simply wanting to position themselves in the right place environmentally.

“We just think it’s cool, and we want to get the political bump for being cool,” he said of those who support the movement.

Things will only get worse in winter, Myers pointed out.

“In winter, it’s going to be basically useless because days are short and cloudy," he said. “The National Renewable Energy Laboratory says that western Washington is literally the worst place in the continental United States for solar energy.”

On average, there are 137 sunny days per year in Tumwater. The U.S. average is 205 sunny days.

“It’s not just a waste of taxpayer dollars, it’s a waste of opportunity to help the environment and that is why I think these things are just a lose-lose,” Myers said. “There’s not even an effort to say this will reduce CO2 emissions because it won’t. It is pure waste.”

He concluded, “The simple truth is that these things are done because they are symbols of caring about the environment, and they don’t actually measure if it has any impact on the environment."

The Center Square contacted the City of Tumwater again to seek a response to Myers' comments about the project.

An email response said, in part, “The solar electric vehicle charging station is economical, grant-funded, and meant to encourage electric vehicle use. While any one solar EV charging station won’t change the world on its own, the encouragement of EV use is beneficial given the realities of climate change.”

The email continued: "This is a pilot project to observe and see how well the system serves our community both for solar generation and electric vehicle charging. Nobody can predict the future, but this system appears to be promising based on examples of deployment at scale across the country, including in more northern latitudes."