LEAF to GRID - Powering Your House From Your Leaf

[dlich18]

As noted in article, useful not only in emergency situations, but also to even out household power usage and switch household peak period usage to base period.

http://mashable.com/2012/06/18/your-electric-car-will-power-your-home-in-the-future/

 

[Herm]

As noted in article, useful not only in emergency situations, but also to even out household power usage and switch household peak period usage to base period.

It would be cheaper just to burn money at the fireplace.. batteries are wear items and they are not cheap.

 

[smkettner]

I would probably get some wet cell batteries if I wanted home power backup or shift the usage.
Leaf battery is too expensive for this. JMHO. And until we know the actual LEAF battery replacement cost it is hard to compare.

 

[mksE55]

seems like a good option for some. but cost is an issues. 4000.00 US could get you alot of backup on many gas systems and decent start on solar. but I would consider this if I was in a large frequent outage area. keep the goodies coming. just shows your the continued value of your leaf, or even your 1/2 spent batteries for backup. could hook them up to this system as well.

 

[foobert]

Tesla and SolarCity seem to think it IS cost effective to use expensive EV batteries for this purpose and already have a project in the works to do so:

http://www.greentechmedia.com/artic...nd-solarcitys-solar-home-energy-storage-play/

 

[KJD]

The first is that in an emergency situation, the car can be used as power source for the home. Nichicon says that in this situation, the car’s high-capacity battery is capable of powering a typical household for up to two days.

I am sorry but this just does not fly. The average american household consumes about 35kwh per day.

The Nissan Leaf pack total is only 24kwh if the pack were sitting at 100% SOC and of that about 21kwh is useable.

Now suppose that you just got home from work and your Leaf battery pack is at 50% SOC. That might power your house for about 8 hours if you are lucky. Now you have no power and no transportation.

If you want a backup power system that is fine, just spend your money on more useful things.

 

[JeremyW]

Wow, lots of hate in this thread for vehicle to home/grid! You're all afraid of the excess cycles killing the pack, yet so far we've seen capacity loss is more correlated to heat than cycles or mileage. Yes, some houses do use 35kWh a day. However in an emergency situation you'd be wise not to draw that much, just enough to keep your fridge running. And "wet cell batteries" aka flooded lead acid requires care, maintenance, and venting during charging. They also hate being discharged below 50%, requiring a derating if you want them to live longer then two years.

useful not only in emergency situations, but also to even out household power usage and switch household peak period usage to base period

Bingo. Utilities will love this. The current problem with solar and net metering is that your peak production is around noon to 2pm. Domestic home usage peaks at 6-8pm, and a few hours earlier in hotter climates in the summer. Even if you're still drawing more then the unit can supply, the amount of on peak kWh you are drawing is less. On the grand scale, this means less peaking power plant capacity is needed and thus better for grid stability and the environment. It would be a no brainier to incorporate into net metering, and thus your pack could help save you even more money on your electric bill. In non-emergency situations we're not talking about running the car's pack dry, or for 8 or more hours. I'd shoot for less then a quarter of the pack capacity, and not more then 4 hours of discharge time. And of course, if you need the kWh to drive somewhere, you don't have to discharge. But you'll want to when you can, because it will save you money. It's also better to charge when its colder, in the middle of the night.

Jeremy

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

There really are some possibilities here, but not at all in the current form. Cycles DO impact battery life. It's likely that this impact over time will diminish so perhaps a pack can do 10k cycles or something (pulling figure from air), at which point it doesn't matter as much.

As an emergency use it would be nice to be able to pull something from the Leaf. I'm actually very, very surprised it doesn't have a 120B outlet in the car even if its amps were rated pretty low.

 

[greenleaf]

The first is that in an emergency situation, the car can be used as power source for the home. Nichicon says that in this situation, the car’s high-capacity battery is capable of powering a typical household for up to two days.

I am sorry but this just does not fly. The average american household consumes about 35kwh per day.

The Nissan Leaf pack total is only 24kwh if the pack were sitting at 100% SOC and of that about 21kwh is useable.

Now suppose that you just got home from work and your Leaf battery pack is at 50% SOC. That might power your house for about 8 hours if you are lucky. Now you have no power and no transportation.

If you want a backup power system that is fine, just spend your money on more useful things.

I am very surprised to learn that the average household consumes 35 kWh a day. My family consumes less than half of that in a typical day.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

The first is that in an emergency situation, the car can be used as power source for the home. Nichicon says that in this situation, the car’s high-capacity battery is capable of powering a typical household for up to two days.

I am sorry but this just does not fly. The average american household consumes about 35kwh per day.

The Nissan Leaf pack total is only 24kwh if the pack were sitting at 100% SOC and of that about 21kwh is useable.

Now suppose that you just got home from work and your Leaf battery pack is at 50% SOC. That might power your house for about 8 hours if you are lucky. Now you have no power and no transportation.

If you want a backup power system that is fine, just spend your money on more useful things.

I am very surprised to learn that the average household consumes 35 kWh a day. My family consumes less than half of that in a typical day.

less than half? well so did we until i got my LEAF.

17
18
9
12
8
15
10
those are KW consumed over past week and 3 QCs each getting 8-10 Kwh are not included (i dont pay for it so why count it?)

keep in mind; the LEAF is already there. its paid for for other reasons and a reasonable V2G setup would be handy especially if you live in an area that loses power a lot. i do. we lose it at least once a year. we have storms,150 ft Firs and live in a very country-like setting (all within 2 miles of town) they dont mix well with power lines.

if need be, i would only power the fridge and freezer depending. if its cold enough, i would not bother with the freezer since its in the garage and does a good job of staying cold when full (its always full of something)

 

[MikeD]

Can anybody point to an article about what wiring changes are necessary to connect such a device to your home's service panel? Maybe a schematic to illustrate the concepts involved...

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

The first is that in an emergency situation, the car can be used as power source for the home. Nichicon says that in this situation, the car’s high-capacity battery is capable of powering a typical household for up to two days.

I am sorry but this just does not fly. The average american household consumes about 35kwh per day.

The Nissan Leaf pack total is only 24kwh if the pack were sitting at 100% SOC and of that about 21kwh is useable.

Now suppose that you just got home from work and your Leaf battery pack is at 50% SOC. That might power your house for about 8 hours if you are lucky. Now you have no power and no transportation.

If you want a backup power system that is fine, just spend your money on more useful things.

I am very surprised to learn that the average household consumes 35 kWh a day. My family consumes less than half of that in a typical day.

I do 40 kWh/day average over the year. That's before the Leaf, and I use gas to heat and for hot water. I honestly don't know where it goes, I guess lights and AC