Can the battery in a Nissan power your house?

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Junaid123

New member
Joined
Jan 12, 2022
Messages
1
Hi everyone.

I’ve been reading on the internet where people use there Nissan leaf’s battery pack to power their homes during peak times. Or as a backup if there is a power cut.

Is this available in the UK and if so how do you go about doing this?
 
The short answer is NO. The long answer is that NIssan and several other companies have used the Leaf in Pilot programs and projects to showcase V2H technology. To date, none of these products has been available outside of Japan that I'm aware of. Google the following products. Wallbox Quasar, Dcbel R16, ACES bidrectional charger, and finally here a a link to an article that is UK specific. I"m in the USA and certainly not up to date on UK projects so keep researching.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/nissan-expand-bi-directional-charging-scheme-uk-project
 
Junaid123 said:
Hi everyone.

I’ve been reading on the internet where people use there Nissan leaf’s battery pack to power their homes during peak times. Or as a backup if there is a power cut.

Is this available in the UK and if so how do you go about doing this?

CHADEMO (DC) V2H is expensive and immature. However, you can easily create a more modest system to provide emergency power during an outage. You won't be able to power your entire house, but that's a luxury rather than a necessity during power outages.

You can easily run a 1500w (sustained) inverter off of a LEAF and you can also add a LiFePO4 inline battery bank too if you want some storage capacity when the Leaf is not connected.

An inverter similar to this one would work:

https://amzn.to/3qmBoVB

Lots of threads on these forums on how to wire up an inverter...

I haven't had to use it yet, but I have an inverter and fridge in my garage that are ready for use should there be a power outage. I also have a 100' long, 12 GA extension cable so we can run a few lights too.
 
Happy to share some insight here. Simple answer is yes! The capability you're referring to is called Vehicle-to-Home (V2H). V2H allows your EV to act as a backup power source for your home in the case of a power outage.

In order to be capable of V2H you have to have a home energy system in place that allows you to utilize the bi-directional charging feature of your Nissan Leaf. An example of this would be the dcbel Home Energy Station: https://www.dcbel.energy/r16/. This Home Energy Station acts as a battery charger/inverter allowing your Leaf to power your home for days during an outage.

Hope this helps!
 
dcbel said:
Happy to share some insight here. Simple answer is yes! The capability you're referring to is called Vehicle-to-Home (V2H). V2H allows your EV to act as a backup power source for your home in the case of a power outage.

In order to be capable of V2H you have to have a home energy system in place that allows you to utilize the bi-directional charging feature of your Nissan Leaf. An example of this would be the dcbel Home Energy Station: https://www.dcbel.energy/r16/. This Home Energy Station acts as a battery charger/inverter allowing your Leaf to power your home for days during an outage.

Hope this helps!

Ive been trying to get price and availability information for weeks but all I get is advertising emails. Why don't you provide some more details about your product since you said the "simple answer is yes!" How much is it? When will it be available nationwide? Everytime I type in a zipcode, it says the R16 isn't available in my area so I tried another dozen zipcodes from the southeast and they all give the same message. Is this product for real or just another pilot vaporware product only available in a few southern califoria zipcodes.
 
Some difficulties in the US are strict "anti-islanding" provisions in the electrical codes. These are intended to protect line workers during an outage but are sometimes more difficult than they need to be. It's the same thing that makes it difficult for people with solar/battery systems to power their home from battery when the grid is down.

One possible solution is "selfish solar" http://evtv.me/2017/07/selfishly-solar/
 
Nubo said:
Some difficulties in the US are strict "anti-islanding" provisions in the electrical codes. These are intended to protect line workers during an outage but are sometimes more difficult than they need to be. It's the same thing that makes it difficult for people with solar/battery systems to power their home from battery when the grid is down.

One possible solution is "selfish solar" http://evtv.me/2017/07/selfishly-solar/

I've always been a fan of the Selfish Solar initiative but in my case, the utility company wants $15k just to run lines about 200 yards and install a transformer and pole. Well, I'd rather just go off grid to begin with and have a propane generator backup rather than grid backup. A good V2H product like the Dcbel R16 running in "off grid mode" would be great! If they ever actually make it available.
 
watchdoc said:
I've always been a fan of the Selfish Solar initiative but in my case, the utility company wants $15k just to run lines about 200 yards and install a transformer and pole. Well, I'd rather just go off grid to begin with and have a propane generator backup rather than grid backup. A good V2H product like the Dcbel R16 running in "off grid mode" would be great! If they ever actually make it available.

Basically my wind and solar power is a separate power source and I use an automated double pole switch to choose between using the utility service or my own. The powered on default is my own power (solar/wind) and if they shutdown (dead, error, maintenance), it automatically switches back to the utility grid service. For the very same reason, I didn't want to tie in and sell power back to the utility because in my state, the charge back rates are worthless. After 12 years of service, the battery/inverter/solar/wind combo already paid for itself long ago in power savings and today it's just free power when there is enough sun or wind. Keeps the power bills very low and I always have basically backup power in the event of grid failure (just don't run as much stuff, bare minimum during an outage).
I could easily see a future where more and more homes run their own power and just don't bother with the grid. 🔌
 
knightmb said:
watchdoc said:
I've always been a fan of the Selfish Solar initiative but in my case, the utility company wants $15k just to run lines about 200 yards and install a transformer and pole. Well, I'd rather just go off grid to begin with and have a propane generator backup rather than grid backup. A good V2H product like the Dcbel R16 running in "off grid mode" would be great! If they ever actually make it available.

Basically my wind and solar power is a separate power source and I use an automated double pole switch to choose between using the utility service or my own. The powered on default is my own power (solar/wind) and if they shutdown (dead, error, maintenance), it automatically switches back to the utility grid service. For the very same reason, I didn't want to tie in and sell power back to the utility because in my state, the charge back rates are worthless. After 12 years of service, the battery/inverter/solar/wind combo already paid for itself long ago in power savings and today it's just free power when there is enough sun or wind. Keeps the power bills very low and I always have basically backup power in the event of grid failure (just don't run as much stuff, bare minimum during an outage).
I could easily see a future where more and more homes run their own power and just don't bother with the grid. 🔌

Blue Ridge Energy in western NC penalizes grid tied systems with higher monthly connect fees and low purchase rates. So far they have balked at any sort of grid tied system that isn’t net metered by saying they won’t allow it to pass inspection which is why I’m just considering going off grid. If it was just me, I would do it in a heart beat but the wife wants all the luxuries of a grid tied home. I haven’t found a balance yet.
 
https://www.outbackpower.com/

Outback sells UL listed inverters that provide power from the home battery system, allow the system battery to be charged from the grid when voltage gets low, sell power back into the grid when batteries are fully charged, and switch seamlessly back and forth between them depending on sunshine, wind, power use etc. The default is a fully charged battery which means that the owner usually has an immediate uninterrupted power supply for as long as the batteries hold up. (Our utility requires the UL listing in order to get permission to grid tie and sell back, along with plenty of paperwork such as a Certificate of Public Good etc. Our Outback inverter has been essentially flawless for many years) To get back to the Original Post, the Leaf battery has a possibility of being used to power the house and to be grid tied but an inverter would have to be custom ordered to run at the Leaf battery voltage or the battery cells would have to be re-configured to provide a voltage that the manufacturer supports.
 
watchdoc said:
dcbel said:
Happy to share some insight here. Simple answer is yes! The capability you're referring to is called Vehicle-to-Home (V2H). V2H allows your EV to act as a backup power source for your home in the case of a power outage.

In order to be capable of V2H you have to have a home energy system in place that allows you to utilize the bi-directional charging feature of your Nissan Leaf. An example of this would be the dcbel Home Energy Station: https://www.dcbel.energy/r16/. This Home Energy Station acts as a battery charger/inverter allowing your Leaf to power your home for days during an outage.

Hope this helps!

Ive been trying to get price and availability information for weeks but all I get is advertising emails. Why don't you provide some more details about your product since you said the "simple answer is yes!" How much is it? When will it be available nationwide? Everytime I type in a zipcode, it says the R16 isn't available in my area so I tried another dozen zipcodes from the southeast and they all give the same message. Is this product for real or just another pilot vaporware product only available in a few southern califoria zipcodes.

Sorry to hear about your frustration, we are sometimes frustrated too! Innovative R&D takes a long time and comes with lots of ups and downs, then adding multiple UL certifications to ensure the product is 100% safe and follows the multiple local and state wide regulations (that often differ from municipality to municipality) adds another level of complexity. Trust us when we say that no one wants this product in North Carolina more than we do!

In terms of pricing, the dcbel r16 starts at $4,999 USD and varies based on the number and type of EV connectors you select, along with your desired cable length and whether you wish to benefit from the blackout power feature. We are currently serving the state of California as well as select regions in NY and will be rolling out to additional regions over the course of 2022. Unfortunately, because energy is so local and the way utilities work varies from region to region, it is near impossible to roll out nationwide at once.

We understand that the EV market has been plagued by vaporware and failed product launches, but we promise you that in 2022 you'll learn that the dcbel r16 is different.
 
We are currently serving the state of California as well as select regions in NY and will be rolling out to additional regions over the course of 2022.

Which regions? Would you consider offering a less expensive, power to house only, version?
 
LeftieBiker said:
Would you consider offering a less expensive, power to house only, version?

^^ +1 for this. Since I'm out using the car during the day, charging it DC to DC from my solar panels is not an appealing use case. I will always be L2 charging post midnight when my rates go down unless I have a battery wall solution one day. Meanwhile I could be interested in a V2H solution for emergency backup purposes.
 
Including the product page, in case anyone is interested:

https://www.dcbel.energy/r16/

Pricey, but sounds promising and more worthwhile if your electricity provider does time of use metering, so you can sell back to the grid at a profit. That would definitely help offset the cost of the unit.

Would be interesting to know the payback period for a typical California EV owner who uses their EV's pack to sell back to the grid on a daily basis.
 
Actually, looks like it's a solar charge controller and inverter too, with V2G capabilities too. So, $5k is pretty reasonable. 15kw output from the EV is decent too.

https://www.dcbel.energy/r16-specs/

Very cool!
 
alozzy said:
Would be interesting to know the payback period for a typical California EV owner who uses their EV's pack to sell back to the grid on a daily basis.
Maybe I'm missing the obvious here. What my solar panels generate already gets sold to the utility under the net-metering program. Installing this unit would not change anything on that front. Besides, charging the EV batteries first and then selling power out of EV back to grid means you are losing some % in the charge / discharge process as well as increasing your EV battery deterioration pace.
 
Maybe I'm missing the obvious here. What my solar panels generate already gets sold to the utility under the net-metering program. Installing this unit would not change anything on that front.

TOU metering can make power much more expensive at some times of day than others. The idea is to sell excess power back to the grid when it is expensive and then charge the batteries when power is cheap.

Here's an outfit that is doing this commercially. https://youtu.be/lMmH98KlSEo
 
Got it. Makes sense since most of the day's solar power is generated around the noon to 3-4 pm zone and the higher cost TOU kicks in at 4pm. I am not aware of difference in what the grid pays back to me based on TOU. I will research this a little more.

For industrial use I totally agree the approach makes lots of sense. For home use everyone's mileage will vary... My car is usually away from home during the peak solar hours so for me this would not work at all.
 
As I've said before here, almost everyone who wants one of these already has a charging station at home, while only a much smaller subset have a large solar array. This makes a simpler, less expensive unit with V2H only, for power outages, an appealing product. It doesn't need to be a different unit, it just needs to have fewer components.
 
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