Electric Vehicle Charger That Can Change The Grid
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Electric vehicles (EV) are still far from the norm, but their increasing popularity is driving money into research for chargers and ancillary devices. Soon, charging stations will no longer be an uncommon sight, and they may provide us with benefits we could not even predict.
Researchers at Kettering University, Michigan and CZAR (Carbon Zero Advanced Research) Power are developing an EV charger that could drastically change the way the electric grid works for the better.
The new generation charger would be capable of storing energy, heavily utilise solar power sources, and serve as an interconnect station in the evolving power grid. It would be the main axis of communication between the battery, the energy storage system, and the electric utility companies. The researchers envision this smart device as a local hub in a decentralised micro-grid system.
“A long time ago, we only used cellphones to make calls,” says Nelson Wang, a PhD candidate in electrical engineering at MIT and co-founder of CZAR. “But now, most people use their phone as an entire system. We want to apply that idea to the charger. It will potentially have a big impact on society.”
A more decentralised grid will increase power security in the event of an accidental blackout, and even in cases of deliberate attacks.
The research team is working on connecting the charger to the internet, so users will have easy access to power usage and cost reports, including how much is coming from the utility and how much is solar generated. Additionally, users would be able to easily locate charging stations through their phones.
The device is being tweaked and tested at Kettering’s Advanced Power Electronics Lab (APEL) for CZAR Power, with Wang’s MIT colleagues working on its software stack. Initial testing have shown the device having about 96% efficiency.
