Electric vehicle (EV) owners are used to plugging their cars into their houses, but several trials are underway to test whether they can also plug their houses into their cars when needed. The aim is to determine whether vehicle batteries could be energy solutions for “homes of the future.”
The latest is a test of vehicle-to-grid technology by CSIRO, the national science agency, and Essential Energy in Port Macquarie, which is expected to continue until March of next year.
It will connect a Nissan Leaf electric car to a bi-directional charger at the power provider’s Innovation Hub, where researchers will set up a home-like environment in a laboratory, complete with solar panels and batteries.
CSIRO transport electrification team lead Kate Cavanagh said the “home” will have multiple appliances, including a television, pool pump, hot water system, fridge, dishwasher, and clothes dryer, to test whether energy stored in an electric car battery could power a household when needed.
“We are using real household appliances in a laboratory setting to provide a range of realistic and controllable household types and scenarios,” she said.
6 Percent of Global Energy Will Soon Be Stored in Batteries
V2G technology enables the flow of the energy from the car’s battery not only to a connected load such as a home but also back to the electricity grid, similar to solar panel installations. According to predictions, six percent of global electricity production could be stored in batteries within 20 years (pdf).
The Nissan Leaf used in the trial is one of the few V2G products approved by Standards Australia. The researchers plan to create different household power scenarios to test their limits.
CSIRO project technical lead Sam Behrens said that if the trial goes as planned, EVs could serve as powerful solar batteries for households and reduce demand during peak times.
“If you use your EV to store solar energy as it is generated during the day, you can then use that for night-time electricity needs. At the moment, you can buy a battery and connect it to your home, but those batteries have small storage capacities compared to an EV, which has as much as five times more storage,” he said.
3 Trials Underway
The CSIRO’s trial isn’t the only one of V2G technology taking place in Australia. NRMA, iMove, and the University of Technology Sydney launched a project investigating the technology a week ago, and Amber Electric has teamed up with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for a trial.NRMA and its partners will conduct consumer research into attitudes towards the technology and investigate ways to introduce it in Australia.
Amber Electric’s trial is expected to expand next year with the arrival of 50 bidirectional chargers for use in participants’ homes.
Despite widespread interest, V2G technology has yet to be approved throughout Australia, and only some electric vehicles support the technology.
Nissan, Volkswagen, Cupra, and Mitsubishi have included it in their vehicles, while other brands, such as Tesla, have expressed interest in supporting it in future models.
