Virtual power plants can maximize the benefits of renewable energy. Electric cars can help make them possible.
are able to absorb and discharge electricity on demand, spreading out the peaks and valleys so there is always perfect harmony between production and usage. Once that dream is realized, the cost of electricity will fall because there will be no need to pay for coal or oil or methane or nuclear fuel. All the energy we need will come from the sun, whether in the form of solar panels or wind turbines. “What a wonderful world it will be; what a glorious time to be free,” in the words of Steely Dan.
Millions of EVs charged during the day, when solar energy is being given away, could make money for their owners by discharging into the grid when the price of electricity increases in the early evening hours. No one would want their car battery to run flat just to power their neighbor’s television or air conditioner, but smart technology could allow owners to make 20% of their battery’s storage potential available in exchange for financial compensation from their local utility company.
There is evidence to the contrary, however. While it may seem obvious that more charge/discharge cycles will have a negative impact on battery life,that vehicle-to-grid systems can balance the calendar and cycling aging to optimize the battery condition and improve its health by 8.6 to 12.3% over one year, compared to conventional charging alone, which is equivalent to one extra year of use.
Owners are also cool to the idea, Fickling says. Cars are idle 95% of the time. Using them as batteries when they’re parked seems the perfect way of paying off that car loan, but the relatively modest uptake of things like car-sharing and widespread indifference to depreciation costs suggests that owners aren’t all that interested in maximizing the returns on their investments.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Former NIH Director admits lab-leak theory of COVID origin is not conspiracy theoryThe leading public health official during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic admitted that the science is not settled on the origins of the coronavirus.
Read more »
Researchers breed tomato plants that contain the complete genetic material of both parent plantsIn a new study published in Nature Genetics, led by Charles Underwood from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, Germany, scientists established a system to generate clonal sex cells in tomato plants and used them to design the genomes of offspring.
Read more »
Huge Power Demand for AI Is Keeping Polluting Coal Plants AliveScience and Technology News and Videos
Read more »
Residents living near nuclear power plants can receive new supply of KI tabletsAs people remember the partial meltdown on the island, companies are still working to clean up the site after the nuclear facility closed in 2019.
Read more »
Qatar's offer to build 3 power plants to ease Lebanon's electricity crisis is blockedLebanon's caretaker economy minister says the country's rulers, fuel companies and private electricity providers have blocked an offer by gas-rich Qatar to build three renewable energy power plants to ease the crisis-hit nation’s decades-old electricity crisis.
Read more »
Qatar's offer to build 3 power plants to ease Lebanon's electricity crisis is blockedLebanon's caretaker economy minister says the country's rulers, fuel companies and private electricity providers have blocked an offer by gas-rich Qatar to build three renewable energy power plants to ease the crisis-hit nation’s decades-old electricity crisis.
Read more »