LEAF to Home

Newbie here. First post! Thanks for all of the good information that's been provided by you enthusiastic LEAFers! I've learned a lot reading through various threads.

My dealer told me about LEAF to House project that Nissan is working on in Japan. Your LEAF can supply electricity to the home on demand. The earthquake / tsunami and subsequent electricity shortages in Japan was apparently a strong motivating factor to its development. This idea could fit well into a plan for distributed energy generation (e.g., solar), with storage so the supply of renewable energy can match the demand more accurately.

I searched to see if there had been any discussion in the Board about LEAF to House but got no hits. I found a number of 'zine articles about it in a Web search, so it seems to be real.

It seems to me that this is an area that would be ripe for third party development. Any thoughts? Which topic would this discussion best be placed under?

I suggest changing the title of this thread to "LEAF to Home", since that's what Nissan is calling this concept.

A couple good links:

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/NEWS/2011/_STORY/111004-01-e.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3


If someone could translate the YouTube vids, it would be much appreciated.

richard,

I've changed the thread title per your suggestion. Thanks for the links.

My home's baseline energy use is about 10 kWh per day, up to about 20 kWh on a day when we wash and dry the laundry and run the dishwasher. Usage above 20 kWh is weather-related, for heating or cooling. The 25 kWh capacity of the LEAF's battery pack has the potential to play a significant role in a home energy strategy.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2010/09/uqm-20100930.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"UQM Introduces 5kW DC-AC Inverter for On-board Power Applications
30 September 2010

UQM Technologies is introducing a new 5 kW liquid-cooled DC-AC Inverter. The inverter provides 5 kW of 120 VAC, 60 Hz output under continuous duty and can handle loads of up to 16 kW for short periods.
The new inverter is designed for use on hybrid or electric vehicles where a 250-425 VDC battery is available. It features a true sine output, making it suitable for use with sensitive electronic devices such as laptop computers. Other features include: under voltage and reverse polarity protection, automatic current limiting, brown out protection and a THD of less than 5%."

http://www.uqm.com/additional%20products.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Herm said:

UQM Technologies is introducing a new 5 kW liquid-cooled DC-AC Inverter. The inverter provides 5 kW of 120 VAC, 60 Hz

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I wish these would do 240V as well as 120V - One could use one of these in a pinch to charge up another LEAF over L2 using any EV or hybrid vehicle.

That is of particular interested to me, as I sit not-at-my-house ('cause it has been without power for 50 hours due to a little snow storm) with a perfectly good 200+V battery sitting next to a 20kW + generator (ie, 2007 prius) - this would be perfect. Certainly better than the 12V ~1kw inverter I'd thought about but not implemented...

Of course, if an OEM (Toyota, Ford, Nissan, GM) would put a 5kW house power in a car, it might sway my purchasing decision. Perhaps Nissan will make a ~$2k CHADEMO charger/house tie device. Even better if it integrates with solar panels...

UQM products are usually VERY cost prohibitive. There are other ways to skin this cat.

EVDRIVER said:

UQM products are usually VERY cost prohibitive. There are other ways to skin this cat.

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It's hard to imagine wanting to shorten my car battery life by intentionally cycling it to partially power my home. The math didn't work out great when I napkined it with 3000 cycle battery life and $500 per Li-Ion kWh.

Maybe in five years, with cheaper batteries and power rate incentives.

DeaneG, you're quite right that, under current conditions, the economics wouldn't make sense. However, we're on the frontier here, and much will change over the next few years. Less expensive batteries, more expensive conventional energy from fossil fuels. The amazing downward trend in PV prices in the few two years will eventually result in cost-competitive solar. That leads to the challenge - how most cost-effectively to store solar-generated electricity and release to meet the 24 hour needs. LEAF to Home may be one part of that puzzle.

highcountryrider said:

EVDRIVER said:

UQM products are usually VERY cost prohibitive. There are other ways to skin this cat.

Click to expand...

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I've got those ... but they don't run the furnace.

We are not talking about skinning, cooking, and eating cats! :lol:

We are talking about running refrigerators and freezers, and
a few critical electrically-driven household systems.

Powering the furnace by night, and then recharging the Leaf during the day with a generator is a lot safer than fumbling with a gas can at night when you are half asleep. How much power does a furnace draw?.. and it probably conserves precious generator gasoline more effectively since charging is a steady load.

Herm said:

How much power does a furnace draw?.. and it probably conserves precious generator gasoline more effectively since charging is a steady load.

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Your typical central gas furnace probably draws 750W at most when running. When off, it's probably a vampire load of 10-30W.

A good quality 1000W 12V inverter would probably be plenty - just directly attach it to the 12V battery terminals and leave the LEAF on. Note that may be pushing the limits of the high voltage DC-12VDC inverter of the LEAF. I know the Prius has a 100A fuse on it's high voltage DC-12VDC inverter. In theory, the lead-acid 12V battery should provide a decent buffer but some testing should be done while monitoring load to see what happens.

DeaneG said:

It's hard to imagine wanting to shorten my car battery life by intentionally cycling it to partially power my home. The math didn't work out great when I napkined it with 3000 cycle battery life and $500 per Li-Ion kWh.

Maybe in five years, with cheaper batteries and power rate incentives.

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+1

More likely, I may become interested in such a system if it could make use of REPLACED leaf batteries in a few years in the event that degradation impairs my use of the vehicle and replacement batteries become less expensive or give much better range.

When we replace the Battery Pack, or some Module(s) in it,
there is likely to be a huge "core charge" to effectively keep them in Nissan's hands.

DeaneG said:

It's hard to imagine wanting to shorten my car battery life by intentionally cycling it to partially power my home. The math didn't work out great when I napkined it with 3000 cycle battery life and $500 per Li-Ion kWh.

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Deane, this is something you would do a handful of times per season, not something that will cycle your battery endlessly. Daily Leaf-Home usage would be a very expensive waste of battery life.. even worse since you probably wont get 3000 cycles out of a Leaf.

EVDRIVER said:

UQM products are usually VERY cost prohibitive. There are other ways to skin this cat.

Click to expand...

Perhaps they offer a better deal if you are an OEM and buy 20k units at a time.