With increased focus on intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and photovoltaics, there comes a rising need for large-scale energy storage. The vehicle to grid (V2G) project seeks to meet this need using electric vehicles, whose high power capacity and existing power electronics make them a promising energy storage solution. This paper will describe a charging system designed by the V2G team that facilitates selective charging and backfeeding by electric vehicles. The system consists of a custom circuit board attached to an embedded linux computer that is installed both in the EVSE (electric vehicle supply equipment) and in the power electronics unit of the vehicle. The boards establish an in-band communication link between the EVSE and the vehicle, giving the vehicle internet connectivity and the ability to make intelligent decisions about when to charge and discharge. This is done while maintaining compliance with existing charging protocols (SAEJ1772, IEC62196) and compatibility with standard “nonintelligent” cars and chargers. Through this system, the vehicles in a test fleet have been able to successfully serve as portable temporary grid storage, which has implications for regulating the electrical grid, providing emergency power, or supplying power to forward military bases.

Date Published: 28 May 2013
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 8728, Energy Harvesting and Storage: Materials, Devices, and Applications IV, 87280T (28 May 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2016318

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8728:
Energy Harvesting and Storage: Materials, Devices, and Applications IV
Nibir K. Dhar; Palani Balaya; Achyut K. Dutta, Editor(s)