Trucks are hungry
Yes, you can charge an electric pickup with solar. But trucks are hungry. An F-150 Lightning or Silverado EV driving 40 miles a day needs about 12 solar panels just for the truck. That's nearly twice what a Tesla Model 3 needs for the same drive.
If you're switching from a small EV to a truck, your current solar system probably won't keep up. Here's how to work out what you'll need, and how towing, job-site power and winter change the picture.
Why trucks use so much energy
Electric trucks are big and heavy, often around 6,000 to 9,000 pounds. They also have a tall, boxy front that has to push through a lot of air. Both of those take energy.
To still get a long range, carmakers give trucks huge batteries. The Cybertruck's is about 123 kWh, and the biggest Silverado EV battery holds about 200 kWh. That's great for range, but every mile you drive has to be put back in, and that's a lot of electricity.
The official measure is kWh per 100 miles. Lower is better. A Model 3 uses about 26. These trucks use about 43 to 48.
How many panels each truck needs
Here's the math for a 40-mile day, which is common for contractors and people with longer commutes. It uses the same assumptions as our calculator: the US average of about 4.98 peak sun hours a day and an 18% allowance for system losses, so each 400 W panel makes about 1.63 kWh a day. Panel counts are rounded up. EPA ratings already include charging losses, so you don't need to add extra for them. Efficiency figures are EPA ratings for the versions listed; yours may differ.
| Vehicle | Energy use (EPA) | Energy for 40 miles | 400 W panels needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Cybertruck (AWD) | About 43 kWh/100 mi | 17.2 kWh | About 11 |
| Chevy Silverado EV (LT Extended Range) | About 48 kWh/100 mi | 19.2 kWh | About 12 |
| Ford F-150 Lightning (Extended Range) | About 48 kWh/100 mi | 19.2 kWh | About 12 |
| For comparison: Tesla Model 3 Long Range | About 26 kWh/100 mi | 10.4 kWh | About 7 |
What the numbers mean
The Cybertruck is the most efficient of the three, so it needs a little less. The Silverado EV and F-150 Lightning are almost identical. In a less sunny state, like New York or Washington, you'd need a few more panels; in Arizona, a few fewer. Ford stopped building the electric Lightning in December 2025, but plenty are still on the road and on the used market.
Work days change everything
Those numbers are for an easy day with an empty bed. Trucks often have harder jobs. Here's how the same Silverado EV's needs can swing. The winter figure assumes about 30% range loss in freezing weather (Recurrent). The towing figure assumes energy use roughly doubles, to around 100 kWh per 100 miles. Real towing results vary a lot with trailer weight, shape, speed and wind.
| A 40-mile day in a Silverado EV | Energy needed | 400 W panels to cover it |
|---|---|---|
| Normal day, empty bed | About 19 kWh | About 12 |
| Freezing winter day | About 27 kWh | About 17 |
| Towing a heavy trailer the whole way | Around 40 kWh | About 25 |
Towing
Pulling a heavy trailer or boat adds weight and a lot of wind resistance. Real-world tests often show it roughly doubles a truck's energy use per mile. If you tow every day, no normal home solar system will keep up.
Job-site power
All three trucks have built-in outlets, like Ford's Pro Power Onboard, that can run saws and air compressors. That's handy, but every hour of tool use drains the battery, and your solar panels have to put that energy back later.
Winter
Big cabins take a lot of energy to heat. EVs lose about 30% of their range at freezing temperatures on average, so your truck needs roughly 40% more energy for the same drive.
What to do about it
Size for a normal day, not your worst day: building a system big enough for towing days would mean twice the panels sitting mostly unused. Let the grid cover the rare heavy days.
Check how your utility credits solar: if you have 1:1 net metering, extra solar on easy days can make up for heavy days. If your utility pays little for exported solar, it pays to charge at home in the daytime when you can.
Plan your roof space: each 400 W panel takes roughly 20 square feet, so 12 panels need about 250 square feet just for the truck.
Get a Level 2 charger: a truck's big battery really needs a 240-volt charger (more on that in the questions below).
An example: Carlos in Austin
Carlos is a contractor in Austin, Texas. Before he bought an F-150 Lightning, his 8 kW solar system easily covered his home and his wife's small electric crossover.
Then the truck arrived, and his bills jumped. He drives about 50 miles a day with a bed full of tools. The truck uses about 48 kWh per 100 miles, so that's around 24 kWh. On top of that, he runs air compressors from the truck's battery on job sites. Most nights it needed about 30 kWh of charging. His old system couldn't keep up, so he was buying a lot of power from the grid.
Carlos added 12 panels (4.8 kW) just for the truck. In Texas, with about 5.2 peak sun hours, they make roughly 20 kWh on an average day. That covers about two-thirds of the truck's charging, and the grid covers the rest. His bills came back down, and most of his driving and tool use now runs on sunshine.
(Carlos is an example, not a real customer. Austin Energy has its own solar rules, so his savings depend on how it credits his panels.)