40 international experts gathered at a two day conference in London to discuss the future challenges that RES and EVs will pose to the energy grid and the potential solution that various energy storage technologies present.

Energy Storage Solutions 2009, the first conference of its kind in Europe, brought together experts from the power and automotive sectors focused on the unpredictability of renewable energy sources (RES) and the pressure that electric vehicles (EVs) will place on the energy grid of tomorrow. Experts from both sectors presented their various visions that the role of energy storage devices of varying sizes will have for balancing out the fluctuations that the increasing use of RES and the rise of EVs will have on the power grid.

A particular highlight was Mr. Johanssen who presented the benefits that ‘smart charging’ of EV’s can play in balancing out these fluctuations. Through the use of information technology users can choose when to charge their cars according to lower prices on the spot market. This would ensure charging at off peak times. In his presentation Mr. Johanssen incorporated the ‘benefits of having home storage devices (HSD)’. These HSDs could charge from either the micro generation units such as domestic solar PV devices or from the grid. This configuration would benefit both the home/car owner in that ‘regardless of being connected to the grid there would be a backup system in place to charge up the car’ and power other domestic appliances at regardless of prices.

Norwegian EV fleet leasing model

Re-use rather than recycling was another prominent theme in the presentation. Given that an EV battery will outlive its host car with still 80% of its conductive capacity the economic value of the battery is still very high, estimated at roughly $10,000. Mr. Johanssen points to the potential potency of a ‘battery leasing’ market. Drawing on previous remarks made by Anthony Price, Electric Storage Association, the conversion of the EV battery to an HSD would ensure that consumers could ‘lease’, at a lower price, such a device. This was justified on the basis of the warehouse function that a HSD provides as “nobody buys energy storage, they just want the service it provides”.

The Norwegian model of EV fleet leasing was also presented. This service would take advantage of the host of benefits the Norwegian governments has granted to EV users. SME’s could benefit from this given the tax benefits they receive from EV use, but also car pooling, access to bus lanes, free toll use and free charging opportunities. Currently over 500 vehicles have been sold to such services.

Green Community

Building on the benefits of HSDs Cyrus Ashtiani, EnerDel, pointed to the massive strides that Li-Ion technology has made in the last years. Presenting the Home Energy Storage System Mr. Ashtiani pointed out that a device as small as a “beer fridge” could integrate micro RES devices and store their energy. In an era of increased fluctuations in the power grid a 6kWHh unit could provide up to 25% of the daily power demand of the average US home.

The ‘green community’ pilot project in Tsukuba, Japan was presented by Mr. Ashtiani. The integration of various electrical appliances and storage devices is the corner stone of the project. Within this fast transit systems, data centres, charging stations and green building designs ensure that EVs can both charge from but also provide energy to various devices. (More detailed information in “Tsukuba Rental EV Project kicks off with support from EnerDel” article).