The B2B platform for full-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: Industry News

The link between electric vehicles and renewable energies has been strengthened, following two most recent announcements by Toyota that has developed a sun-powered charging station for EVs, and Siemens testing 6 minutes recharging in wind powered grids.

Photovoltaic charging stations with seamless power supply by Toyota

Toyota has developed a solar charging station for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs), which has been adopted by Toyota City (Aichi Prefecture, Japan). The municipal government plans on building 21 stations at public places such as the municipal office, train stations, etc. The operation of those charging stations will start with 20 units of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid this April.

The eco-friendly solar charging station has a storage capacity of 8.4 kWh and draws about 1.9kW from the solar panels fitted on the roof. The maximum output of the power converter is 3.2kW (AC202V) in grid-connected operation and 1.5kVA (AC101V) in self-sustained operation.

The charging station combines a solar photovoltaic system and a power storage system but is also connected to the grid in case the solar energy does not suffice. EVs are charged with photovoltaic electricity and electricity from the storage system. When the stored electricity runs out, the grid electricity is used so that vehicles can be stably charged regardless of weather or time of day.

Surplus photovoltaic energy on the other hand can equally be used for powering the facilities of the station or even be sold to a utility company. In case of emergency and fall-out of the general power grid, electrical equipment that uses AC100V can also be powered from the photovoltaic and stored electricity in the station.

Siemens striving for 6 minutes instead of 6 hours

EDISON is a project of Siemes’ Energy Sector in Denmark focusing on raising charging power up to 300kW so that EV batteries can be recharged in as little as 6 minutes – the average time spent for a refill at gas stations.

The EDISON group includes the Technical University of Denmark and its Risø-DTU research center, as well as Denmark’s Dong Energy and local electric utility Østkraft, the Eurisco R&D center, and IBM as well as Siemens.

In a first step, the consortium develops a 43.5 kW rapid charge capability for a 20 minute charge on a 400 Volt/63 Amp connection, which is the typical power supply in most European households. The next step will be the six minute charge, which is the fastest recharging current battery technology can offer.

Siemens will test how the constant switching on and off of batteries affects a grid that is mainly powered by renewable energy. The Danish island of Bornholm with a relatively high percentage of wind power in the grid supplying its 40,000 inhabitants is the place of choice for the real-life trial.

Powered by sun, wind and waves

The insights provided by this test will be very useful considering ambitions to create a European “supergrid” based on renewable energies. A first step towards the realisation of Europe’s first electricity grid powered by sun, wind and waves is the linkage of clean energy projects of nine countries (DE, FR, BE, NL, LU, DK, SE, IE, UK) through a network of thousands of kilometres of highly efficient undersea cables. The idea is to create a supergrid that can supply the whole of Europe with energy from wind farms on the Scottish coast, tidal plants in Denmark and Belgium as well as the hydro-electric dams in the Norwegian fjords.