Boulder, Colorado's Rich Becks is among the growing number of solar-charged drivers in the U.S. However, in terms of total drivers in the U.S., in powering his EV with solar, he's still among a tiny, tiny percentage who do so.

So, how many solar-charged drivers are there in the United States right now?

No one knows. Not even us.

That’s because no one is keeping track of this statistic, though SolarChargedDriving.Com has an ongoing, totally unscientific poll on our site (across the 2 ½ years our poll has been running, 205 people have either indicated they already are solar-charging an EV or that they plan to do so).

Putting aside the fact that no one is keeping track of how many people are solar-charging a plug-in car shows that EV + PV isn’t truly valued in American society – we survey/poll on things that matter to us on a broad social level, and we ignore those things that “we” don’t care about – we can make some reasonable speculations about how many solar-charged drivers there are in the U.S.

Real Goods Solar is giving away an Electric Smart Car + a 1.5 kW home solar 'gas station' to one lucky contestant.

Want to win a solar-charged All-Electric Smart Car?

Then you might want to consider entering the Real Goods Solar Smart Electric Sweepstakes. Real Goods will hand over the keys to an Electric Smart Car and install a 1.5 kW solar system to fuel the car to one lucky winner of its sweepstakes.

The contest shows, once again, that solar and electric vehicles are increasingly coming together, and that more and more solar installers get it, meaning they understand that plug-in electric vehicles are a boon for solar.

The contest isn't the first of its kind. Back in 2011 we reported that a UK solar installer, Planet Solar, gave away an all-electric Nissan LEAF to Charles and Val Willett of Lancaster :-)

Joe, from Long Island, with the Corvette he traded in for a Mitsubishi iMiEV. He fuels his new iMiEV with electricity generated by the 5.6 kW home solar system pictured at the top.

SolarChargedDriving.Com frequently gets e-mail, pictures, videos, etc. from people around the U.S., and around the world, who've plugged into EV + PV.

Below is a great e-mail from Joe in Long Island, New York. Joe's been flashing the solar-charged EV grin a lot lately thanks to a Mitsubishi iMiEV and a 5.6 kW home solar system.

Thank you for sharing your solar-charged driving story with us, Joe!

Here is Joe's story -->

"In 2000, we decided to install a 5.6 kW solar PV system and never regretted it. Even at that time I knew an EV would be in our future. In 2001 we purchased a “Classic Prius” one of the first in our area but no plug.

I’ve thought about converting an ICE to EV and even looked at some that were converted but just didn’t feel the technology was there. In 2005, we purchased a second generation Prius, but still no plug. I thought about upgrading it to a PHEV but I was holding out for a pure EV.

In 2012 we purchased a Mitsubishi iMiEV knowing it would be a perfect fit with our PV system and lifestyle.  The PV + EV grin is so overwhelming, I’m sure it will never end. Each time we use the iMiEV, knowing it is being fueled by the sun, it gives us an “oh so good feeling”.

Even the naysayers telling us that PV will never catch on and that the Prius was a waste of money back in 2001 are now re-thinking their past thoughts. Now here is the real clincher: We went from “Mean to Green”.  We owned a 1984 Corvette since new and put 13,000 miles on it.

And guess what? We traded it in on the iMiEV! My how people change."

--Joe, Long Island, New York

Related articles-->

• EV + solar EV delivers $300,000 worth of 'sunny money'
• Racking up solar-charged Sun Miles® in Indiana
• Couple living solar + EV live in Kentucky coal country
• Solar-charged driving 101
  

A screen shot of the new web site Honda and SolarCity have teamed up on. [Credit: HondaSolarCity.Com]

SunPower has teamed up with Nissan and Ford, Solarcity has worked together with Mitsubishi, and now Solarcity and Honda are pairing up to push forward solar-charged driving.

The solar company and car company today (Feb. 20) announced a partnership to make solar power more affordable and available to Honda and Acura customers in the U.S., providing a cleaner source of electricity at a lower cost than utility-supplied power.

As the firms put it in a news release -->

"Honda and SolarCity will explore opportunities to integrate solar power and electric vehicle recharging, envisioning a future in which Fit EV and Accord Plug-In Hybrid owners will be able to charge their cars from the power of the sun."