British smart charging firm Indra is aiming to stage the world’s largest trial of vehicle-to-home (V2H) technology later this year to showcase the potential of bi-directional charging technology.
The trial will involved more than 500 participants and will run for more than a year. Each participant will use an Indra V2H bi-directional charger, which allows energy stored in an electric car battery to be used to power a home during times of peak demand. The car battery is then recharged when demand and costs are lower.
Indra, which launched its first bi-directional charger in 2018, claims the use of V2H technology could save households up to £200 per month, help reduce CO2 emissions and stabilise demand on energy grids.
Indra’s V2H charger is also compatible with solar, allowing households with solar panels to use their car battery to store excess energy generated by them. Indra claims that a typical 4kW household solar panel can produce up to 3000kW of energy annually, and when combined with a V2H set-up could reduce energy bills by around £840 a year.
The V2H unit has an output of 6kW, and is compatible with cars that use CHAdeMO chargers. Because of that, the initial trial will focus on vars with that connection point, such as the Nissan Leaf and Nissan e-NV200 van. The firm is investigating a CCS charging unit for the future.
Electric vehicle drivers interested in the trial can register on Indra’s website.
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