Electric Cars to Help Utilities Load Balance Grid

Reservoir Hill writes "A team at the University of Delaware has created a system that enables vehicles to not only run on electricity alone, but also to generate revenue by storing and providing electricity for utilities. The technology, known as V2G, for vehicle-to-grid, lets electricity flow from the car's battery to power lines and back. When the car is in the V2G setting, the battery's charge goes up or down depending on the needs of the grid operator, which sometimes must store surplus power and other times requires extra power to respond to surges in usage. The ability of the V2G car's battery to act like a sponge provides a solution for utilities, which pay millions to generating stations that help balance the grid."

Comments

Down-sides

[Tablizer]

Computer voice: "Sorry, you cannot go to Vegas this weekend, we need your batttery."

Offloading costs more like it.

[SeaFox]

The ability of the V2G car's battery to act like a sponge provides a solution for utilities, which pay millions to generating stations that help balance the grid.

So since I'm now taking over that job, how much will my cut be?

I thought so.

And this wont have any impact on the life span of my car's expensive battery will it?

Oh, it will.

Well since they're now saving so much money, they'll be able to lower utility ra---
What's so funny?

Re:will never work

[Calinous]

This isn't about generating electricity at YOUR desire (or sun's desire or wind desire). What you propose is the PROBLEM for which the electric car's battery balancing is the SOLUTION.
      The battery in the car will give energy back into the system WHEN THE ELECTRICITY IS NEEDED, not when you have some available.

      In the electric grid there is a minimal, constant power needed - this is the baseline. Above this, the request fluctuates - with some slow gradients and some fast gradients.
        Slow gradients are things like the move from evening to night (people go to sleep, lights go off, TVs go off). As people go to sleep from - let's say 9 PM to 12PM, there is a slow change in electricity need. "Baseload" power plants usually can change their output to account for this.
      And there are fast gradients. Some of them are small, like an entire office building starting or shutting down their lights. Some, however, are not so small - like - let's say - an entire neighboorhood starting their electric boilers at the same time). When this happens, a brownout ensures - the electric plant is overwhelmed, and its output voltage drops. Having a lower voltage, the electric boilers will consume less power than at full voltage (Power is voltage squared demultiplied by resistance/impedance). However, some consumers (switching power supplies) will just take a higher amperage, and the voltage goes even lower.
      For this kind of fast gradients, the gas turbines are used as "fast switching" sources. A gas turbine is able to ramp from - let's say 10% to 90% rated power - in the space of a couple of seconds (for comparation, a hydroelectric big plant will ramp the same in a couple of minutes or more). Ramping back might be even slower on baseload power plants (unless they choose to vent already heated steam). Yet, electricity generated from natural gas is expensive (much more so compared to coal or hydro). Also, the nuclear plants (while they might be able to ramp quickly on and off) are NOT designed to do so, and are not tested to do so. They are just slow-ramping, base line power plants.

      As such, the electricity company hopes to supplement some of this "fast switching", expensive electricity with your car's battery.