Electric Vehicle-To-Grid Services Can Feed, Stabilize Power Supply
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology allows electric vehicles to charge and discharge electricity. Yes folks like solar to and from the grid. In addition, V2G can improve the power system’s resiliency and reliability. As well as make customers money. Studies have been conducted to understand how V2G service. It can be implemented, but more are necessary before it becomes widely available.
Vice President Lisa Cagnolatti of Southern California Edison confirmed that electric vehicle batteries are “capable of two-way electricity flow into and out of the power grid. That allows them to go from simply consuming energy to potentially becoming a fully functioning component of the smart grid.”
In addition, Lisa was featured in Forbes magazine. Finally and For the entire article.
They also mention that while these individuals grab their coffees, activate their computers and begin their daily tasks, their leased Leafs are owned and operated by start-up company Peak Power. So it will be primed and ready for their specific daily assignments as well. Because as part of the Peak Drive pilot program, the cars will wait for a signal that will activate their battery packs. They will feed their energy into their local host buildings. All during the days of high electricity consumption on Ontario’s power grid.
Renewable energy sources like solar and wind only generate electricity when the wind blows or the sun is out. However that isn’t always when customers need power. Batteries large enough to hold megawatts of electricity are not prohibitively expensive for Utilities. However another potential source of battery storage is fast emerging: electric vehicles.
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) storage allows the smart grid to use EVs (and even hybrids) as a distributed network of batteries. So that you can store power at off-peak times. As well as help power the grid when demand peaks. Here’s how it works:
1. Power is generated from a renewable source. All from like wind, and transferred to the grid.
2. Electricity flows from the grid to EV batteries. Especially when there is excess capacity (e.g. when the wind blows in predawn hours). The power flow is reversed when demand on the grid is higher.
