UD vehicle-to-grid research gets more federal funding

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The US   Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory announced  five new partnerships that will award up to $6.5 million in federal funds to technical teams throughout the country.

The cost-shared projects with industry, universities, and other stakeholders will address the challenge of enabling the nation’s electric grid to handle increasing amounts of renewable energy. Sharing in the funding  is the University of Delaware, which will test how electric vehicles can provide energy storage support to the power grid. This “vehicle-to-grid” (V2G) technology shows promise because it allows owners of electric vehicles to get extra utility out of the vehicle’s battery pack, essentially using it as a supplemental power supply.

When coordinated with a smart grid, utilities can leverage V2G-equipped electric vehicles to help regulate power flow that can vary with the use of wind and solar power.

The University of Delaware developed the concept of V2G in 1997, and has been conducting research and development on V2G technologies since that time.

Increasingly sophisticated control systems have the potential to control the ups and downs of storing and receiving electrical power without putting pressure on the grid.

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An electric vehicle  can store enough electricity to meet the needs of several homes.

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