PLUG IN CARS AND THE SMART GRID

Smart Grid And Electric Vehicles: A Match Made In Heaven?

11 July 2012 (Renew Grid)

“The widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) will lead to greater consumption of electricity. As a result, existing electricity systems will have to be reconfigured to meet these needs, and this is where the smart grid can play an important role, according to Smart Grids and Electric Vehicles: Made for each other? by the International Transport Forum.

“Smart grid technology can make it possible for EVs to proliferate without overloading the electric supply industry. At the same time, these vehicles may be useful for matching intermittent solar and wind power supplies to demand, soaking up excess off-peak power supply and feeding power back into the grid when needed. In addition, EVs may be able to produce a backup supply of power in case of power cuts…”

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“As the use of EVs grows, demand on electricity load will need to be carefully managed in order to avoid problems in peak load periods - for example, when motorists plug in their cars to recharge at the end of the workday. Smart grid technologies enable charging load [from private vehicles and fleet vehicles] to be shifted automatically to off-peak periods regardless of when the EV owner plugs in the vehicle…

“In the longer term…the smart grid [may] enable EVs to be used as distributed storage devices by feeding the electricity stored in their batteries back into the system or directly into the home or office…[because they] are parked an average of 95% of the time, providing ample opportunity for their batteries to be used for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) supply…Smart grids also permit the storage potential of EV batteries to be used to smooth variable renewable electricity output. Batteries can store wind power output at night, when demand is [low]…[and] solar output in the middle of the day, when it is surplus…”

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