Is the home battery a thing of the past?
Could electric cars possibly become the new energy solution?
Over the past few years, home batteries have become increasingly popular as a solution for storing solar energy. A new technology now offers a potential alternative: using your electric car as a home battery. The idea is tempting—charging your car with solar energy and then using that energy later to power your home. But is this option really as straightforward as it sounds?
Using your car as a home battery can be interesting but comes with quite a few limitations which doesn’t receive much attention. The appealing English terms, Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) or Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), explain what it essentially is, but there’s a risk of oversimplifying it—and potentially missing critical challenges along the way. ☺).
My car
At work, my electric car often sits idle when I’m not visiting clients. On sunny days, we take this into account and charge using the electricity generated by the solar panels, which is free or at least significantly cheaper. This is smart charging.
In the evenings, there’s no household consumption here (except for the dishwasher), so I can leave with a fully or well-charged battery. At home, I could, in principle, use this power. This work-home situation is very common, but here’s the catch. If I want to use my car in a V2G setup, I would be consuming the energy I charged during the day at work for my daily needs at home. This sounds like a great application—except that this power must, of course, be cheaper than the energy I could generate (and store) at home. If it isn’t, then my economic model no longer works, and I end up paying more.
Each work and/or home situation is different, so we need to carefully consider or seek advice on whether such investments are worthwhile and where we can gain the most benefit.
If I want to charge my car during the day with my own solar panels and then use that energy in the evening, I must also ensure that I never end up with too little energy left in the car. After all, this battery is needed for driving around.
Conclusion: Are electric cars the replacement for home batteries?
So, if we regularly need our car or if we can’t charge it cheaply during the day, then this ‘mobile’ home battery isn’t really a viable option. An electric car can be a supplementary home battery in some cases, but as a full replacement, it definitely isn’t the case today.
Would you like to know more about this? Do you have any further questions about it? Feel free to contact us.
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