V2G or Vehicle-to-grid technology has an impact on the entire energy system. It can transform the system and bring new variants to it. The technology pushes back energy to the power grid from the source- the battery of an electric vehicle. It is also known as car-to-grid technology. A battery can be well discharged and charged based on various signals like consumption and energy production.
It might include multiple usage cases such as vehicle-to-home, vehicle-to-building, etc. Be it any such case, it has abbreviations in store. Your vehicle can efficiently work for you even if it is feeding back to the power grid. V2G also helps mitigate climate change and build energy monitoring bases throughout. Renewable energy is being managed and balanced by the energy system, but to sustain the climate crisis, a few things need to be considered for mobility sectors. These include energy efficiency, decarbonisation, and electrification.
Energy needs to be used when it is produced. If not, it has to be stored somewhere safe for further usage. The growth of renewables makes our energy system continuously volatile. Electric vehicles and batteries are more cost-effective and efficient than other energy sources. If you compare it with unidirectional smart charging, the V2G battery capacity’s efficiency is higher. It permits the usage of batteries ten times more efficient compared to unidirectional smart charging.
According to the reports, there will be an increase in the number of electric vehicles by 2030. The universal count is approximated to be 140-240 million electric vehicles. The electric vehicle charging grid enables new possibilities for the transport sector. It plays a massive role in providing at least 140 million little energy storage on cars with an aggregate capacity of 7 TWh. V2G technology lets us explore the best among the existing vehicle population.
Working on a Vehicle-to-Grid Technology
Using V2G in practice is different from considering it theoretically. The most significant thing to remember in V2G is to ensure the drivers (EVs) have a potential amount of energy in their batteries. The car battery must be charged entirely in the morning to keep it active throughout the day. This is the minimum requirement of a vehicle-to-grid technology or any other technology. However, the EV driver must communicate well when he wants to unplug the car. This is the time the battery must be charged.
While you are using smart charging, there is a possibility of balancing the ends of a grid with the battery is fully charged. V2G technology allows the grid balancing to continue smoothly throughout while the vehicle is plugged in. Network operators get a fair chance to optimize investments and stabilize (or balance) the grid with vehicle-to-grid technology. However, energy market parties can easily trade and optimize their balance.
Bottom Line
The overall idea behind vehicle-to-grid technology is in context to regular smart charging. It allows an individual to control the amount of charging done by the electric cars to let the charging power increase and decrease according to the needs. However, V2G technology works one step further. It allows the charged power temporarily push back itself to the grid from batteries to balance variations in consumption and energy production.
