Photovoltaic (PV) systems for charging high voltage batteries used to power the electric traction motor of an electrically-powered vehicle are described. Suitable PV systems, fabricated of interconnected solar cells, modules or arrays, may be designed and adapted to efficiently charge a high voltage battery by matching the characteristics of the PV system to the fully-charged voltage of the battery. Preferably, a charging efficiency of about 90% or greater may be achieved through proper matching of the PV system to the battery. A reconfigurable PV system, based on assemblies of solar modules, is described. The reconfigurable PV system is capable of properly matching itself to a variety of different batteries, each of which may have a different voltage when fully charged. By using several reconfigurable PV systems a variety of batteries with different charged voltages may be charged simultaneously while utilizing substantially the full capacity of the PV system to charge batteries.