Electric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly changing the way consumers use their own renewable energy eg. solar power. A typical EV these days has a battery of 60 plus kWh so is capable of storing lots of excess solar energy (at a much better return than selling to the grid at 3 or 4 cents per kWh). So the next question on the minds of most EV owners is how to use the EV battery to power the house and even to export to the grid when the feed in tariff might be higher (eg. after sunset).
The short answer is that Vehicle to Grid (V2G) technology is not yet available in Victoria. But it could be coming in the next couple of years. The first step is to have the main EV manufacturers adopt the technology and the communications protocols to allow systems to operate in all markets. It is believed that VW, Audi, BMW, Cupra, Skoda, Polestar and Volvo are all actively working towards this.
At the same time the Australian standards are being developed to allow for DC bidirectional charging to work with the network distributors (such as Powercor). And there is strategic advice being provided to the federal government on how to facilitate the uptake of V2G technologies.
Industry modelling suggests that DC bidirectional chargers (fully integrated with solar panels etc) will likely start at a cost of $8-$10K but could drop to $4-$5K by 2030.
And the benefits of V2G capability? The financial return to consumers will depend on a number of factors including how often the EV is plugged in, the particular electricity tariff structure and dynamic export limits being implemented by the network.
So a lot of moving parts. This is an area of great interest to us at the EnviroShop so we will be keeping a close watch on developments in this space and updating you accordingly. For existing EV and charging technologies look out for our next EV Insights workshop or give us a call on 5472 4160.
For some more detailed reading on V2G technology check out this recent report by Solar Citizens.
https://www.solarcitizens.org.au/batteries_on_wheels
This article got me thinking about comparable scenarios in other
countries. It would be interesting to see a cross-cultural
examination of how different localities are tackling this issue.