Nissan unveils new power supply system through LEAF

[Electric4Me]

http://www.japantoday.com/category/...-unveils-new-power-supply-system-through-leaf

 

[Herm]

This was driven by the March earthquake, note that it would be for emergency uses otherwise you would prematurely wear out your battery... that would be expensive.

How will Nissan adjust the battery warranty if you have one of these devices installed?

Lost power yesterday for almost 8 hours, had a lightning strike in the neighborhood.

 

[JPVLeaf]

Thank you for the link.
To quote from the article ....

YOKOHAMA —
Nissan Motor Co on Tuesday unveiled a system which enables electricity to be supplied from the lithium-ion batteries installed in its LEAF to ordinary households, as part of its comprehensive efforts toward the realization of a zero-emission society.

The new system was unveiled at Kan-kan-kyo, a house built in front of the Nissan Global Headquarters by Sekisui House Ltd. Nissan said it will continue development and study how it can be fully aligned and connected with current power systems. Working with a wide range of partners interested in both its development and sales, Nissan said it aims to commercialize the system during this fiscal year.

Through this system, electricity stored in Nissan’s LEAF can be supplied to a house by connecting the car to the house’s electricity distribution panel using a connector linked to the LEAF’s quick charging port. The connector complies with the CHAdeMO Association’s protocol for quick chargers, adopted globally for its great versatility, safety and reliability.

With this system, Nissan LEAF can be used as an electricity storage device for houses in preparation for power outages and/or shortages. The lithium-ion batteries can store up to 24kWh of electricity, sufficient to power an average Japanese household for about two days.

Nissan said it believes this system will allow households to be supplied with a stable amount of electricity throughout the day and reduce the burden on the current power supply by charging and storing electricity in Nissan LEAF with electricity generated at night or through sustainable methods such as solar power, and using it during high demand periods.

This system can not only supply electricity from the vehicle but also charge it to the vehicle. Current Nissan LEAF owners will also be able to use this system, the automaker said.

 

[tbleakne]

The picture shows a big unit, as large as a Quick Charge station, so it is probably expensive. However, I am happy to see that this solution uses the car's QC CHAdeMO port. This shows that the port is, in fact, capable of supplying power back out of the battery. In principle it should be possible to use your house's solar inverter in place of this unit to power your house from your car in case of a power outage. You would need:

A switch to switch the inverter's DC input from the solar array to a DC line connected to the QC port.
proper protocol software to enable this feature in the car.
a small A/C oscillator to provide 60 Hertz pilot signal.
firmware change in inverter to allow a new mode in which its output is adjusted to the instantaneous demands of the house, not the maximum production from a solar array.

You would use your main meter cutoff to isolate everything from the grid while operating in this mode.

Of course the inverter would have to be able to handle the 400+ volts from the car battery. This is less than but near the upper limit of my inverter's allowed maximum input voltage.

 

[tps]

a small A/C oscillator to provide 60 Hertz pilot signal.
firmware change in inverter to allow a new mode in which its output is adjusted to the instantaneous demands of the house, not the maximum production from a solar array.

Basically you need to turn the grid interactive current source inverter into a voltage source off-grid inverter. Such inverters, which contain the necessary transfer switch, already exist. See below:
http://www.outbackpower.com/products/sinewave_inverter/

 

[csriram45]

This is interesting.... so how about this. Charge the Leaf at night using regular electricity provider (PGE) and then during the day use the Leaf to supply power to home. So basically your entire house will run at the E9a/E9b rate. Depending on how much electricity you use per day, you can also drive the car around for local errands etc. If you can off set your peak hour usage, you probably save a lot...

So instead of investing in a solar system for $15K you get a mobile station.
Of course the battery life may take a hit and the unit to hook it up has to be portable.

 

[rainnw]

Its only a 6kW system.

There's nothing uniquely special about CHAdeMO that makes it "expensive", especially at that wattage.