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Harvesting a solar farm

April 25, 2014 in Battery Energy Storage, Electric Vehicles, EV News, Greentech, Large Energy Storage, LEAF, Nissan, Solar

OSAKA, Japan – The man-made island of Yumeshima in western Japan’s Osaka is now home to the world’s first large-scale energy storage system, a project that also highlights the potential to reuse electric vehicle batteries.

Photo courtesy of Nissan

Photo courtesy of Nissan

Hikari-no-Mori, or “Forest of Light,” is a mega-solar project of 36,000 solar panels built on top of a landfill and managed by Sumitomo Corporation.

“This is the Osaka ‘Hikari-no-mori Project’ mega-solar power generation facility, a project with eight other companies,” said Mugihiko Ozeki, Senior Associate, Battery Business Development at Sumitomo. “We are testing the system controlling the output of the battery packs that charge the energy generated by this 10-megawatt mega-solar power station, linking the data from the photovoltaic panels in real time.”

A joint venture between Sumitomo and Nissan called 4R Energy – Reuse, Resell, Refabricate and Recycle – uses 16 lithium-ion batteries from EVs to help monitor energy fluctuations and store the solar farm’s energy output.

Natural energy sources, such as solar and wind, vary in strength and frequency, and the innovative battery management system developed by 4R is the first of its kind, says the firm’s President Eiji Makino.

“Depending on use, a battery’s degree and rate of deterioration, and the battery’s condition, vary by vehicle,” says Makino. “So 4R has created a technology that allows us to have optimal control in regulating those conditions.”

The project is part of a three-year test under Japan’s Environment Ministry to expand renewable energy resources and power grid management. In Japan, electricity liberalization will be realized after 2016.

Photo courtesy of Nissan

Photo courtesy of Nissan

The batteries have up to 70% of capacity remaining – the average left after 100,000 kilometers or five years of driving.

Sumitomo General Manager Norihiko Nonaka said his company, in cooperation with 4R, expects to make the results of the project commercially viable in five years or so.

“The electricity-value-chain is divided into three sections: electricity generation, transmission and distribution. We would like to focus on electricity generation and transmission. If we rely on renewables to obtain energy, like solar and wind, they don’t always generate the necessary amount of energy and that may cause an issue with supply-and-demand,” said Nonaka. “On the other hand, if the cost of batteries is too high and is economically inefficient, 4R will have to continue to work and investigate the situation and market in the long term, about five years or maybe after 2020. By saving energy into power storage or batteries, our goal is to create a balance in supply versus demand, or create a system with the battery to maintain the quality of the electricity.”

In the meantime, the mega-solar farm will offer insights on energy management and storage, illumination that will eventually provide a power supply for Osaka.

This article is a repost, credit: Nissan. Video courtesy of Nissan.

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BRUSA doubles inductive charging power density

April 8, 2014 in Electric Vehicles, EV charging, EV News

Image courtesy of BRUSA

Image courtesy of BRUSA

BRUSA Elektronik AG is known for its innovative power-electronics solutions for the demanding automotive sector. To meet growing market demands, we have already started developing the next generation of our Inductive Charging System (ICS). With the increasing capacity of electric vehicle batteries and given the power-grid characteristics in North America and Asia, at 7.2 kW the ICS 2 will boast twice the charging power – yet will have the same compact footprint. This immense increase in power density has been achieved thanks to a special technology patented by BRUSA. An initial prototype of the second-generation ICS is to be presented publicly as early as Autumn 2014, with a launch date scheduled for 2017.

Development of the first generation also continues unabated. As the power electronics are fully integrated, the BRUSA ICS only comprises two components. The two primary and secondary coil housings already contain all the AC/DC converters as well as the communications and safety equipment for vehicle positioning and foreign-object detection. This means no external wall box or HF cabling is required – an absolute first for inductive charging systems. With the ICS BRUSA has achieved a power-transfer efficiency of over 90 percent, making it almost lossless. Indeed, the CarTec Awards jury was so impressed it named it winner in its category. Currently, BRUSA is working hard on making the ICS ready for mass production, with testing also taking place under everyday conditions as part of a small fleet trial.

This article is a repost, credit: BRUSA.

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Worldwide Capacity of Lithium Ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles Will Multiply More than 10-Fold by 2020

May 17, 2013 in Battery Energy Storage, Electric Vehicles, EV charging, EV News, Research

Source: Office of the Press Secretary

Source: Office of the Press Secretary

Improvements in lithium ion (Li-ion) battery technology are helping to accelerate the worldwide market for electric vehicles (EVs).  In the last few years, automakers have shifted from nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries to Li-ion batteries.  This shift represents a major endorsement of Li-ion chemistry and its ability to perform consistently in an automotive environment.  According to a recent report from Navigant Research, total worldwide capacity of Li-ion batteries for transportation applications will increase more than ten-fold, from 4,400 megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2013 to nearly 49,000 MWh by 2020.

“Li-ion technology continues to improve, as increased energy densities translate into smaller and lighter battery packs with more power,” says David Alexander, senior research analyst with Navigant Research.  At the same time, leading battery cell manufacturers have built new factories utilizing the latest production techniques, including greater automation and faster throughput. This will lead to a reduction in the cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) over the next few years, provided that volumes continue to increase.”

The market for Li-ion batteries will primarily be driven by the growth of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), as they utilize much larger battery packs than plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).  Today’s BEVs use battery packs ranging from 16 kWh to 85 kWh, compared to PHEVs that typically use packs ranging from 4 kWh to 16 kWh.  Additionally, many recently introduced hybrid vehicles, such as the Honda Civic Hybrid, use Li-ion batteries, and the percentage of hybrids using Li-ion technology is expected to grow steadily as automakers update their models.

The report, “Electric Vehicle Batteries”, provides a detailed examination of the growing market for Li-ion batteries, including profiles of all of the leading Li-ion battery manufacturers. Forecasts for revenues from Li-ion batteries, segmented by vehicle type, are included, along with vehicle roadmaps for hybrid, PHEV, and BEV sales by region. The report also includes a review of competing energy storage technologies, including ultracapacitors and nickel-metal hydride batteries.  An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Navigant Research website.

* The information contained in this press release concerning the report, “Electric Vehicle Batteries,” is a summary and reflects Navigant Research’s current expectations based on market data and trend analysis. Market predictions and expectations are inherently uncertain and actual results may differ materially from those contained in this press release or the report. Please refer to the full report for a complete understanding of the assumptions underlying the report’s conclusions and the methodologies used to create the report. Neither Navigant Research nor Navigant undertakes any obligation to update any of the information contained in this press release or the report.

This article is a repost, credit: Navigant Research, http://www.navigantresearch.com/newsroom/worldwide-capacity-of-lithium-ion-batteries-for-electric-vehicles-will-multiply-more-than-10-fold-by-2020.

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Abundant U.S. supply, low demand could cut dependence on liquid fuel imports, Source: EIA

April 17, 2013 in EIA, EV News, Oil

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2013.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2013.

U.S. net imports of petroleum and other liquid fuels as a share of product supplied (used as a proxy for consumption) have been one of the most watched indicators in national and global energy analyses. The Annual Energy Outlook 2013 includes a case in which net imports of liquid fuels are eliminated by 2035 under inherently speculative assumptions that boost supply and reduce demand relative to the previously published Reference case.

The Low/No Net Imports case simulates an environment in which U.S. energy production grows rapidly while domestic consumption of liquid fuels declines. The Low/No Net Imports case assumes that more petroleum can be recovered from tight oil formations as well as from offshore, Alaska, and gas-to-liquids sources than is considered achievable using current technology and known geology. Domestic crude oil production approaches 10 million barrels per day by 2020 and is sustained near or above that level through 2040.

In the Low/No Net Imports case, assumptions limit growth in demand for liquid fuels. Projected liquid fuels demand is assumed to be lowered by technological, economic, and behavioral factors including:

  • Light-duty vehicle technology is improved
  • Vehicle fuel efficiency standards are tightened beyond the 2025 model year
  • Electric vehicle batteries are improved
  • Natural gas market penetration into the freight transport industries is expanded
  • Growth in vehicle miles traveled is significantly reduced relative to the Reference case

Additional analysis of the Low/No Net Imports case and related Import Dependence side cases can be found in the full Annual Energy Outlook 2013.

This article is a repost, credit: Energy Information Administration, Today In Energy, http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=10871.