Battery Backup

[ErnestS]

I have solar panels and a Tesla battery and belong to a VPP (Virtual Power Plant). Now that the feed-in tariffs have dropped so low, is it quite feasible to add a second battery in order to reduce the need to send power to the grid? Is it possible that a second battery can be that inside an electric car where there is bi-directional current flow - so that your house can be powered by the car battery in times of need, all in conjunction with the VPP?

[David_AGL]

Hi @ErnestS ,

I've moved this one across to our VPP group. @JVarone are you able to help out here?

[MikeP]

@ErnestS you may find this thread informative for your question about bidirectional charging from EVs or V2H / V2G 

[JV2]

Hi Ernests, apologies for delay in response to your question. It may be feasible for you to add a second battery if you have 3 phase power at your home. If you were to install a 2nd Tesla Powerwall, you would likely need 10-15kW of solar to be able to charge two batteries of that capacity (and you may not need an additional 13.5kWh of storage). If you do end up adding a 2nd battery, it doesn't affect participation in our VPP (Please note - AGL does not currently offer installation of a 2nd battery system). Powering your home via an electrical vehicle battery is known as V2G. From what I understand this is still being rolled out in Australia and isn't available at this stage. I believe that the Nissan Leaf (2nd Gen) is the only car with this functionality.

[MikeP]

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV can also do V2G / V2H. As a hybrid it has the added advantage that you can in an extreme situation charge the EV battery from the hybrid engine and then run your home from the battery, with up to 10 of the 13.8kWh available.

The Wallbox Quasar is the only bidirectional charger built to specification for Australia at this time. It will be sold in Australia through Jet Chargers and Diffy electrical distributors. Certification still in progress. More details in the EV threads here .

Diffy's (National Electrical distributor) has partnered with Jet chargers for distribution of the Wallbox Quasar bidirectional charger. Here's a link to  Wallbox Quasar specs pdf 

[MikeP]

The Nissan Leaf is the only AU available BEV that offers V2x. The Mitsubishi Outlander and Eclipse Cross PHEVs offer the same function, albeit from a 20kWh or 13.5 kWh battery (3kWh is quarantined for operational car functions) The unstated benefit of PHEV using V2x is you can run your house in the event of an extended blackout by generating power to the car battery from the onboard engine ~30 minutes for 10kWh. Not very green but it keeps the lights on and the fridge running if needed.

I already have a PW2 installed and power my home independent of the grid except for Solar feed in. I charge my PHEV from 10kWh solar system in about 3 hours @ 16Amps. This covers all my local running.

Now to get the certification in NSW AND get the yet to be released Quasar Wallbox 2 which will include blackout operation. The installation and purchase cost will be about the same as a Tesla PW2.