second life for old electric-car batteries: guardians of the electric grid - battery energy storage system

Imagine, in the future, the old electricity
Car batteries are deployed in the community as an energy source
Storage systems that prevent power outages, while paving the way for wind and solar energy and more electric vehicles.
The idea took another step forward, demonstrating a square, second-hand Chevrolet Volt battery unit capable of providing enough power to power three to five ordinary American homes up to two hours
Developed by GM and ABB, one of the world's largest electric vehicles
Technology company, the device has five lithium
Ion battery pack on plug
In the mixed voltage, arrange together in a new arrangement and cool with air, not the liquid they used on the road before.
For cars, battery performance drops below acceptable levels, but the companies say the battery has enough life to serve the grid in this community's energy storage device for at least ten years.
"In the car, you want instant power, you want a lot of power," said Alexandra Goodson, business development manager for ABB Energy storage modules . ".
On the other hand, many grid storage applications involve slow, stable energy delivery.
"We will be unloading for two hours instead of speeding up immediately," she said . ".
"This is not a high requirement for the system. " (
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The partner previously demonstrated the technology in a lab environment.
Now, Pablo Valencia, senior manager of battery life cycle management for GM, said, "This has become a reality," in a speech on Wednesday in sosarito, California, GM installed a demo unit about a few refrigerators size there, powering video, lights and audio in outdoor tents.
"This is the first in the industry to be able to use secondary car batteries in the power grid.
The app, "West Asia.
To test the repackaged Volt battery in the real world, Duke Energy, the largest utility partner in the United States, plans to install the unit on site next year next to the transformer.
Dan Sowder, senior project manager for new technologies at Duke University, said: "We will test it as long as all value streams need to be highlighted . ".
Community energy storage devices deployed on the electricity network can help utilities integrate highly variable and sometimes unpredictable renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, into power supply while absorbing power demandcar charging.
"Wind, it's a nightmare for grid operators," said Britta Gross, GM's director of global energy systems and infrastructure commercialisation.
"It's up, down, it won't explode in three days.
Very hard-
Intensive management.
His company serves Sowder.
1 million customers in the United StatesS.
The Midwest and the South-East explained, "our grid and most of it are not really designed to handle this fast swing.
Storage can help suppress this situation.
"The smooth delivery of renewable energy has been a major research area in Zurich, Switzerland --
ABB is the world's largest supplier of wind power equipment.
At the same time, in terms of demand, utility companies are considering the possibility of a substantial increase in energy demand for electric vehicles, which may be the largest power load introduced in homes in 50 years, scott Hinson, director of the power commercial laboratory at Austin, Texas, said.
"It's a bit shocking for a power grid that has no design to handle this load," added Sowder . ".
Community energy storage devices can be charged at night when wind blows but there is little demand for electricity, and are available when needed.
"The result may be a reduction in infrastructure upgrades needed to support power --
Vehicle charging.
"GM, which seeks power grid solutions, is not the only automaker looking to help build its electric vehicle batteries into a secondary market.
On January, Nissan North America, together with ABB, Beijing Energy Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation of the United States, announced plans to use Nissan Leaf batteries to manufacture prototypes of power grid storage systems. (
View relevant photos: "11 electric cars charge forward in obstacles ")
After all, if the battery is the most expensive part of an electric car, it is still an asset beyond the service life of the car, "said Valencia," it helps with the remaining value.
"This is the term used to describe the value of a car at the end of the lease or at the end of its service life, and this is a key factor in determining the rental rate and resale value.
So, he said: "We are helping the first customer.
Kevin See said: "If there is a market for fixed power supplies for used batteries, consumers can recognize that this is an increase in resale value at the end of life, no matter how small, an analyst at research firm Lux research.
Of course, because electric vehicles like Volt and Leaf are new to the market, there won't be a huge supply of used electric vehicles
Car batteries for some time to come.
Batteries should be used in cars for ten years.
For the demo unit, GM cleaned up its own lab to find the battery that was simulated for degradation.
The battery in the demo unit has degraded to about 85 or 90% of its original capacity, Valencia said.
"We called everyone and said 'Give me your oldest battery, '" he said '. ".
But GM expects to eventually track down old batteries and buy old ones for the grid.
Through the same system used today to auction components such as pumps and starters, recycling or rebuilding at the end of vehicle life.
Before scrapping the vehicle, scan its ID number to list all the "core" components in need.
Adapt to lithium
However, the ion battery of electric vehicles increases the complexity of the power grid energy storage design task.
"You have to bring a battery designed to work in a very specific, moving, volume --and weight-
"Applications on cars are limited," See said.
The necessary adjustments vary depending on the type of car.
"The all-electric vehicle battery is designed to maintain maximum energy, while the hybrid vehicle is designed to have a higher ratio of power to energy.
"Ultimately, this additional complexity" could add to the cost of preparing these systems for applications that are completely different from the ones originally designed, he said. " (
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Used car batteries face fierce competition for new lithium batteries
Ion batteries are designed for a given power grid application, as well as alternative technologies such as mobile batteries and molten salt batteries, which have the potential to reduce costs, See said.
"Li will not be missing now and in the future-
In view of the limited demand, the manufacturing capacity of ion batteries has surged, "See said.
However, he said fixed-power customers looking for batteries may buy used EV batteries at a substantial discount.
"These customers will be the real winners if these batteries stay still, not the car manufacturers.
Duke Energy is "hopeful", according to Sowder, but it is not yet sure whether the Volt battery used will save money.
This story is part of a special series to explore energy issues.
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