Sunday, April 1, 2007

Vehicle-to-Smart Grid Power: Resources for Distributed Electric Power in Hawaii

Aloha from Maui:

This is the V2G Smart Grid Energy Peak-Power Management System we are bringing to Maui!


All-Electric-drive
vehicles can become an important resource for the Hawaii electric utility system, with consequent air pollution, system reliability, and economic benefits. We refer to electric power resources from vehicles as "Vehicle to Grid" power (V2G). The economic value of some forms of V2G appear high, more than enough to offset the initially higher costs of electric-drive vehicles, thus having the potential to accelerate their introduction. To realize this potential, some coordination of vehicle and infrastructure planning will be needed.

Our Smart Home Management (SHMM) Model:



Our Phoenix Motorcars 35 KWh Battery Platform can run your home in an emergency for
3-4 days... 3-4 homes for 24 hours, our new advanced 70KWh Platform.....Just Imagine!


Major automakers and the Department of Energy are pouring money into research on plug-in hybrid / all-electric-vehicles. These cars promise to cut petroleum consumption by allowing commuters to drive to work using primarily electricity--stored on board in batteries--rather than gas. Although critics have warned that the vehicles could put too much pressure on an already strained electrical grid, experts are now arguing that rather than being a strain on the grid, all-electric & plug-in hybrids may actually help prevent brownouts, cut the cost of electricity, and increase the use of Renewable Energy.

The concern is that plug-ins and all-electric vehicles are not a good way to reduce gasoline consumption, because if they become popular, and millions of car owners recharged their cars at three in the afternoon on a hot day, it would Crash-the-Grid. But these vehicles could actually help stabilize the Smart Grid if owners charged their cars at times of low demand, and if the vehicles could return Excess Energy to the Smart Grid when it's needed--say while parked in the company lot at work during peak demand. We have a New Solar Thin-Film -Coating which will allow our Vehicles to be Trickle-Charged in the Sun while in the parking lot at work.


Since Utilities have built enough Power Plants to provide electricity when people are operating their air conditioners at full blast, they have excess generating capacity during off-peak hours. As a result, according to an upcoming report from the Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory (PNNL), a Department of Energy lab, there is enough excess generating capacity during the night and morning to allow more than 80 percent of today's vehicles to make the average daily commute solely using this electricity. If plug-in-hybrid or all-electric-car owners charge their vehicles at these times, the power needed for about 180 million cars could be provided simply by running these plants at full capacity.

This will be a boon to utilities, because they'd be able to sell more power without the added cost of building more plants. Ideally, this will translate into lower electricity prices, says Robert Pratt, a scientist at PNNL. It might also help utilities justify the added capital costs of building cleaner coal-burning / bio-diesel plants, because they'll be able to recover their investment faster by "selling more electricity with the same set of iron, steel, and concrete," Pratt says.

Such a system could be further optimized by using our smart chargers, software, and advanced electronics. This system would include our smart charger that runs on a timer, charging cars only during off-peak hours. Researchers at PNNL are taking this a step further with smart chargers that use the Internet to gather information about electricity demand. Utilities could then temporarily turn off chargers in thousands of homes or businesses to keep the grid from crashing after a spike in demand.



The next step would be to add smart meters that would track electricity use in real time and allow utilities to charge more for power used during times of peak demand, and less at off-peak hours. Coupled with such a system, our Altairnano Consumer Smart Charger could ensure that the plug-in batteries are charged only when the electricity is at its cheapest, saving consumers money. PG&E of Northern California has Projected that a Consumer can Profit $3,000=$5,000 a Year with their signing up for their Peak Power Management Charging Programs now being developed.
Experts are excited about our concept called "Vehicle-to-Smart Grid," often abbreviated V2G. In such a system, all-electric and plug-in hybrids, rather than being merely an extra burden to the grid, become a much needed way for grid managers to balance the amount of energy generated at any given time to match the amount of energy being consumed. Millions of cars, each with several kilowatt hours of storage capacity, (ours have 35 KWh) would act as an enormous buffer, taking on charge when the system temporarily generates too much power, and giving it back when there are short peaks in demand.

In a V2G system, the batteries of our fleet of all-electric vehicles plus plug-ins would be used as a buffer to even out supply and demand and to help keep the grid stable, we have developed technology that could help make such a system work. In this kind of system, each vehicle would have its own IP address so that wherever it is plugged in, the cost of the energy it uses to recharge would be billed to the owner. With the right equipment, the car could also return energy to the grid, giving the owner credit. Mock-ups of such systems have already been tested by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in Golden, CO, and by a company called AC Propulsion, based in San Dimas, CA.

On Monday, April 9, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) hosted U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and executives from major high tech companies to discuss the vital role Silicon Valley companies play in developing alternative energy and energy efficient solutions for the future of California and the nation. The Senator chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) demoed the first utility Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) electric car. Using a standard home meter and a plug-in electric vehicle, PG&E showcased how its customers could charge their electric vehicles at night and gain credit on their electricity bill by plugging in during the day, while simultaneously providing renewable energy to the power grid during peak hours. PG&E of has Projected that a Consumer can Profit $3,000=$4,000 a Year with their signing up for their Peak Power Management Charging Programs now being developed. The new stay-at-home make a Buck...This could be You someday...2010!

Participants had the opportunity to test ride a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle, which gets more than 100 miles per gallon...

Utilities can start building new business models based on the distributed energy storage system they've always wanted. V2G will turn intermittent night-time wind power into a reliable 24-hour energy source. It will "valley fill" and "peak shave" utility load curves (and by enabling more efficient use of generating plants, we might all get lower monthly bills). And it will bring a revenue stream back to plug-in car owners who allow the utilities to tap their batteries for spinning reserves and regulation services. All the technologies needed to make this happen already exist.

PG&E has ordered 4 Phoenix Test All-Electric Vehicles with a back-up order of 400 Vehicles for April 2008 delivery...Just Use Your "Imagination on Wheels"....

All-electric vehicles will also serve as backup sources of power. In extreme cases, such as a blackout from an Earth Quake, (Last Year in Hawaii) the cars could keep essential systems up and running in our homes and businesses in an Emergency...

The challenge of using a renewable source such as wind is that wind is intermittent, varying day by day and minute by minute. A network of all-electric plus plug-in hybrids could smooth out these fluctuations by storing extra energy and sending it to the grid when the wind dies down. Such a network would also improve the economics of wind power by making it possible to capture more of the excess power generated on windy days, says Willett Kempton, senior policy scientist in the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware. Our new (in development stage) high density energy storage units with Altairnano can absorb electricity on an efficiency basis of 92% vs 20% as the Kaheawa Wind Farm is now set up.

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