EV Chargers
Driving Towards a Greener Future: The Power of Electric Vehicle Chargers
About EV Chargers
Greener is all about not just reducing the power consumption, but also to reduce the gas emissions from vehicles. The gasoline powered vehicles emit the carbon which adds to Green house gas effect. In order to reduce it, the Electric vehicles are beginning to take it’s lead role to reduce carbon emission and make the greener economy.
Further to it, there are Bi-directional EV chargers that also helps draw power from Grid during Non-peak hours (Like in nights) and store the power in a battery which can be consumed by building during peak hours of demand.
There are three EV charging levels; Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. There are differences between each charging level. However, as a general rule, the higher the Level, the higher the power output from the charger and the faster it can charge.
Bidirectional EV charging is exactly what it sounds like: EV charging that goes two ways. Whilst with unidirectional (one-way) EV chargers, electricity flows from the electric grid into the electric vehicle, with bidirectional (two-way) EV chargers, electricity can flow both ways.
Bidirectional charging allows energy to flow both ways – in and out of your car. But where exactly does the energy go when it’s flowing out of your car?
V2G (Vehicle to Grid): V2G is when a bidirectional EV charger is used to supply power (electricity) from an EV car’s battery to the grid via a DC to AC converter system usually embedded in the EV charger. V2G can be used to help balance and settle local, regional, or national energy needs via smart charging. It allows EVs to charge during off-peak hours and give back to the grid during peak hours when there is extra energy demand. This makes perfect sense: cars sit in parking spaces 95% of the time, thus with careful planning and the right infrastructure, parked and plugged-in EVs could become mass power banks, stabilizing the electric grids of the future. In this way, we can think of EVs as big batteries on wheels, helping to make sure that there is always enough energy for everyone at any given time.
V2H (Vehicle to Home): V2H is when a bidirectional EV charger is used to supply power (electricity) from an EV Car’s battery to a house or, possibly, another kind of building. This is done via a DC to AC converter system usually embedded within the EV charger. Like V2G, V2H can also help to make balance and settle, at a larger scale, local or even national supply grids. For instance, by charging up your EV at night when there is less electrical demand and then using that electricity to power your home during the daytime, you could actually contribute to reducing consumption during peak periods when there are more electrical demand and more pressure on the grid. V2H can, therefore, help make sure our homes have enough power when they most need it. As a result, it can also reduce the pressure on the electricity grid as a whole.
Both V2G and V2H may become more important as we move towards totally renewable energy systems. This is because different renewable energy sources tend to produce variable amounts of energy depending on the time of day or season. For instance, solar panels clearly capture the most energy during the day, wind turbines when it is windy, and so on. With bidirectional charging, the full potential of EV battery storage can be realized to benefit the entire energy system – and the planet! In other words, EVs can be used for renewable load following: capturing and storing excess solar or wind power when it is generated so that it can be made available for use during times of high demand, or when energy production is unusually low.