Monday 12 February 2018

Vehicle-to-grid tech tested in ‘Energy House’

A new project aims to test how batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) can be used to improve domestic energy systems.

The partnership between Good Energy, Honda, Upside Energy and Salford University will use the university’s climate controlled ‘Energy House’, which it claims is the only full-scale building in an environmental chamber on the continent.

The project, which is funded by Innovate UK,  will explore how vehicle-to-grid (V2G) equipment can provide flexibility in conjunction with other technologies in the home such as solar panel arrays, heating and hot water systems.

The consortium says battery storage is vital to the continued growth of renewable energy in the UK, as it helps solve weather-dependent reliability issues.

Will Swan, Professor of Building Energy Performance at the University of Salford, said: “Energy House can be subjected to simulated climates – sun, wind, snow and rain and is equipped with 300 sensors on windows, doors, walls and appliances.

“That makes it the perfect living laboratory to test what V2G can do because we can measure the gamut of scenarios in controlled conditions.”