How does Car to Grid work?
Integrating your electric vehicle into the transmission energy network is known as vehicle-to-grid or V2G. If you own an electric car, you should consider setting up V2G using a straightforward metering system and entering into a contract with your local electricity provider. Tips on electric car charging guide?
What should I consider before I hook up my car to the grid?
You must first own an electric vehicle that can be charged using a regular electrical socket.
Finding out your essential driving habits is the second thing you should do. For example, if you commute to work and back every day, there won’t be much energy left over to switch between your battery and the grid, which makes setting up V2G somewhat pointless.
After determining that V2G connectivity is both viable and possible, you must look at the best devices available on the market to assist you in achieving this. Namely, which inverter to employ and which electricity trading contract would best meet your demands.
How can you get out of a contract that would otherwise be more expensive if you determine at the last minute that V2G is not a suitable fit for you?
Once these fundamental requirements have been met, contact your utility to begin the V2G application process. Then you can buy an appropriate inverter to feed energy back into the grid (this will be similar if not identical to the type of inverters used on solar PV grid-connected power supplies). First, you’ll need to choose the appropriate inverter size.
A 5kW inverter, for instance, might cost $1000, whereas a 2kW inverter might cost $600. Thus, you must be sure that you can recoup the $400 by being able to sell electricity at a higher rate during peak hours. You can determine the best course of action using some introductory algebra, but keep in mind the various benefits of each alternative.
Vehicle to Grid (V2G): Why is It Good?
Applications that connect vehicles to the grid have numerous advantages for various stakeholders and enterprises. V2G: Vehicle to Grid
Smart metering enables residential customers to use electricity responsibly, saving them money over time through efficient electricity management, and it’s environmentally friendly! In addition, you lessen the need to expand the power network with more transmission lines and generators whenever you provide the grid with electricity during the yearly peak energy demand.
You are assisting with the commercialization of electric vehicles (EVs).
As a result, your carbon footprint is shrinking! These days, this is a major one.
The power provider can save money by lowering unit electricity costs or the demand for additional electricity transmission lines. In other words, the automobile moves the electricity to the required location.
Reduces the need for as many fuel stations and reduces our reliance on foreign oil through the quick adoption of electric vehicles and the capacity to switch from fossil fuel production to renewable energy.
As electric vehicle batteries may now serve as a buffer to intermittent generation, more sustainable and renewable energy can be added to the electrical grid.
The final consideration is crucial. Since that electricity generated from intermittent renewable and sustainable sources is highly dependent on the weather, traditional transmission networks are finding it challenging to handle this situation. It is crucial to have the ability to store electricity in some manner. In several nations, power utilities are addressing this by either pumping water up a hill and regenerating during peak times (at an efficiency of around 60%) or by storing hydrogen created by electrolysis underground and ready for regeneration (at an efficiency of about 40%). The efficiency of storing electricity in batteries is substantially higher (between 60% and 90%) but is also more expensive.
But car-to-grid systems also function very well as storage devices and are anticipated to play this role as more electric vehicles enter the market. For example, Japan uses massive battery sheds to store tiny amounts of energy. How soon we’ll see these networks depends primarily on how committed a nation is to using sustainable and renewable energy sources and how much wind, solar, and wave energy is available. Although many businesses assert that their initiatives have a silver lining, the primary force behind adopting such technology remains its short-term profitability.
The benefit for the end user using a grid-connected vehicle is the electricity savings from renting out the storage space in their electric car battery. As we can see, it is a win-win situation for several reasons, including a decrease in the strain on our electricity transmission and generation networks, the ability to add more renewable energy to the system with lower carbon emissions, and the ability to lower the cost of electric vehicles for the end user. Additionally, it weans us off our dependence on foreign oil through the affordable introduction of electric cars, a timely problem as the globe approaches peak oil status.
Read Also: Choosing The Best Towing Company For Path Assistance And Tire Troubles