Edinburgh firm Flexitricity is part of a consortium planning to test a solar-powered car park where people can charge their vehicles.
The Smart Hubs Demonstrator R&D group of energy experts, also involving Flexisolar, Turbo Power Systems and Smart Power Systems, has secured multi-million pound funding for a demonstration project equipped with battery storage.
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It will also use vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology to enable electric cars and other vehicles to deliver electricity back to the smart grid, to power homes and businesses. The managed integration of solar PV, electric vehicle charging and vehicle to grid systems at car parks and transport hubs is relatively new to the UK.
The consortium is now looking for test locations where they can put the plan into practice.
Smart Hubs, with the inclusion of energy storage systems, is intended to increase the ability to charge large amounts of electric vehicles without placing further pressure on an already constrained grid. It is also designed to generate sustainable revenue streams for car park owners including airports, train operators, local authorities, hospitals and retail centres.
The Smart Hubs Demonstrator project is described as good news for car manufacturers as the ability to recharge quickly using a grid-friendly infrastructure should bring further consumer confidence and momentum to the electric vehicle market.
Increased demand for electric vehicles is expected as prices fall, with 9 million predicted to be on UK roads by 2030.
The demonstrator project will target early adopters of V2G, mostly in the commercial area, comprising six sites and 150 V2G enabled electric vehicles.
Flexitricity is a demand-response expert that partners with businesses to provide reserve electricity to National Grid.
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Dr Alastair Martin, chief strategy officer at Flexitricity, said that the consortium is now looking for partner sites to take part in the trials later this year.
He said: “Electric cars and buses are going to be the principal method of transport in just a few years; however, we know that the current grid system will only be able to cope if smart charging and grid management are adopted across the network.
“We now need to invest in smart technologies and change the way we operate power grids if we want to make the growth of electric vehicles a positive story for the UK.”
