Nissan touts Leaf for storage
Source: Agencies |
July 12, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
JAPANESE automaker Nissan is testing a super-green way to recharge its Leaf electric vehicle using solar power, part of a broader drive to improve electricity storage systems.
Nissan's Leaf went on sale late last year, but the automaker is already looking ahead five years when aging Leaf vehicles may offer alternative business opportunities in using their lithium-ion batteries as a storage place for electricity.
Nissan acknowledges that, once electric vehicles catch on, a flood of used batteries could result because the life span of a battery is longer than an electric car's.
Electricity generation and storage are drawing attention in Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami severely damaged several nuclear reactors, causing massive blackouts and renewing fears about power reliability.
In the new charging system, demonstrated to reporters yesterday, electricity was generated through 488 solar cells installed on the roof of the Nissan headquarters building in Yokohama. Four batteries from the Leaf were in a box in a cellar-like part of the building, and stored the electricity generated from the solar cells, which was enough to fully charge 1,800 Leaf vehicles a year.
Although interest is growing in renewable energy, a major challenge is the storage of electricity, which remains expensive without a breakthrough in battery technology.
Other Japanese automakers, including Toyota and Honda, are working on similar projects, such as linking hybrids with solar-equipped homes as part of energy-efficient communities called "smart grids."
Nissan's Leaf went on sale late last year, but the automaker is already looking ahead five years when aging Leaf vehicles may offer alternative business opportunities in using their lithium-ion batteries as a storage place for electricity.
Nissan acknowledges that, once electric vehicles catch on, a flood of used batteries could result because the life span of a battery is longer than an electric car's.
Electricity generation and storage are drawing attention in Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami severely damaged several nuclear reactors, causing massive blackouts and renewing fears about power reliability.
In the new charging system, demonstrated to reporters yesterday, electricity was generated through 488 solar cells installed on the roof of the Nissan headquarters building in Yokohama. Four batteries from the Leaf were in a box in a cellar-like part of the building, and stored the electricity generated from the solar cells, which was enough to fully charge 1,800 Leaf vehicles a year.
Although interest is growing in renewable energy, a major challenge is the storage of electricity, which remains expensive without a breakthrough in battery technology.
Other Japanese automakers, including Toyota and Honda, are working on similar projects, such as linking hybrids with solar-equipped homes as part of energy-efficient communities called "smart grids."
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