Enphase presents a two-way charger for electric cars
Enphase presents a two-way charger for electric cars
The North American company Enphase, which specialized in the development of microinverters, has presented a domestic charger for electric cars that has the peculiarity of having bidirectional capacity.
A technology that will be key in the future where vehicle batteries will form part of the electrical system.
And it is that when we talk about a system 100% powered by renewable energy, we are talking about a system where backup technologies will be essential.
Among them will be those capable of taking advantage of the battery capacity of the millions of electric cars that will be on the streets in the future and that will need technologies such as bidirectional charging.
The main problem is that there are hardly any products on the street, and those that do exist have high prices.
Now Enphase has given a first demonstration of the operation of its home charger, which will work in conjunction with the Enphase Energy System, which includes IQ Microinverters, IQ Gateway, and the system controller.
All of these are managed by the Enphase app, where owners can view power flow and view their vehicle’s battery charge level in real-time.
The Enphase Bi-Directional Charger can be used in three ways:
- Vehicle-to-home charging, V2H, allows the system to use the vehicle’s battery to service the home in the event of a power outage, or the event of an off-grid installation, and to do so fully automatically.
- The charging of the vehicle to the network, V2G, allows owners to inject energy into the electrical network from the battery of their vehicle, for example when they do not plan to travel and have surplus autonomy, and manage to deposit money in exchange for that contribution.
- The “green charging” for its part is a smart charging function, which allows homeowners to use the bi-directional charger to power the house during periods when electricity rates are high, thus avoiding consuming from the network at those times. higher cost, using the vehicle’s battery to service the home.
It will be able to work with practically any vehicle, it will be necessary for it to have a CCS Combo or CHAdeMO socket, which seems essential due to a matter of communication ports.
For its designers, this two-way charger will be a game changer for those looking for maximum control over their power.
What we don’t have at the moment are prices, and Enphase is currently working with several electric car manufacturers, regulators, and other players in the sector to make its two-way charger available for sale in 2024.
It remains to be seen how this inverter charger integrates into an installation that already has its inverter or its battery, although the potential is enormous.
There is the question of the impact of the charge and discharge cycles of the battery. But as we remember normally the injection to the network should be carried out intelligently, controlled by special software, which allows the injection to be carried out within specific battery charge ranges.
A format with shallow cycles hardly has an impact on the useful life of the battery itself.
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