Enphase Introduces Bidirectional EV Charging Solution

https://enphase.com/ev-chargers/bidirectional

https://electrek.co/2023/02/02/enphase-enph-introduces-bi-directional-ev-charging/


I know there are no guarantees, but it would be awesome if this turns out to be an option.

Looks like it’ll be a tortoise race between the Wallbox Quasar 2 and new announcements.

I would think something, software and hardware, would have to be enabled within the car for this to work. The Ford Lightening can already do this and I have read that some (at least one) other EV’S have the ability too.

Let’s get that CCS ISO 15118 standard complete - I’ll be in line to put one of these bi-directions EVSEs in my garage.

I want this in my house last week.

It takes two to tango, but the MME lacks the equipment to do the dance...

JohnFoxeSheets said:

It takes two to tango, but the MME lacks the equipment to do the dance...

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MachE has a CCS port - yeah? Then it can happen. No additional equipment necessary.

Software though is another question.

JohnFoxeSheets said:

It takes two to tango, but the MME lacks the equipment to do the dance...

Click to expand...

I wouldn't write her off just yet. As I said, I'm not getting my hopes up too high, but my understanding is that enphase is taking a different approach from what is required for V2H say for the Lightning. As I read it, enphase is using their existing DC to AC microinverter (IQ8) and using those to form the microgrid which wouldn't require additional hardware within the EV. They would be accessing DC power through the CCS connector.


Here are the requirements and interface described in the whitepaper they published:

Connects to the EV through standard
(CCS and CHAdeMO) charging cable. It supports 200 VDC to
1000 VDC for EV batteries.

Communication Interfaces
EV communication
Supports CHAdeMO and CCS
(ISO 15118 -2, -20) communication
with the EV.

I’ve heard of this solution through an Enphase distribution network. I put a 15kw solar system on my house last year and planned ahead for this type of solution: conduit runs between System Controller and Main Panel, to the garage where an existing charger is wired.

While this won’t work for the Mach-E (as of today) Rivian just announced V2H and V2V is being supported in the near future; so I’ll have a use case.

If by magic a feature like this could be turned on by software it would be awesome. To me this is the killer feature. V2H/L is something that is a must have for any future EV. There is something frustrating about having this giant rolling battery and but not able to effectively and easily use it.

That's my rant for today.

AKgrampy said:

I would think something, software and hardware, would have to be enabled within the car for this to work. The Ford Lightening can already do this and I have read that some (at least one) other EV’S have the ability too.

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Ioniq 5 is another BEV capable of V2H.

TalkToErik said:

https://enphase.com/ev-chargers/bidirectional

https://electrek.co/2023/02/02/enphase-enph-introduces-bi-directional-ev-charging/


I know there are no guarantees, but it would be awesome if this turns out to be an option.

Click to expand...

This is good. I'm very happy to see companies working on products like this. I think I would prefer solar + dedicated/fixed battery storage at home but V2H definitely has use case scenarios. More energy options on the table is a good thing.

I don't think I'd want to use my non LiPo battery EV to support the grid during peak needs. Power outages, yes.

I would think it would hurt the longevity of the battery.

1) Utility companies will not "pay" you for the electricity you send them., as is suggested in Enphase articles.
ex.: our utility agreed to pay me 5mils/kWh for the energy we send them. They did for about a year. They now pay us for only 80% of the energy we send them (which equates to 4mils/kWh, actual). The utility company has changed their billing/accounting six times in five years to try and avoid paying us anything. What they pay you is a very small fraction of what they pay for any and all other sources, especially since we/you supply and maintain virtually all of the equipment/infrastructure.
2) How will this integrate with (older) existing systems (eg. critical load panels, battery back-up, non microinverter panels, other inverters, etc.). My first thoughts are that it will, but may be wishful.
3) In light of Ford's abysmal software record, what are the odds that they will offer software that works (the guys w/ LIghtnings seem to be hitting brick walls with there bi-directional installs, much of which is Sunruns fault). And of course the HVBJB.
4) and of course installers. We all know that most solar installers are, well, not knowledgeable or experts. Electrician? The setup seems straight forward. A good electrician with solar experience should be able to handle it.....

We would really like to utilize our MME for this and not be forced to buy another vehicle, such as a GM product (they are good products and GM is, after all, ahead of the game....).

woody said:

1) Utility companies will not "pay" you for the electricity you send them
<SNIP>

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This is so true! My utility company won’t pay us a cent for any electricity we send to the grid. We get “electricity credits” that can be used during the winter. During annual true-up, they just wipe our balance of credits to zero.

HuntingPudel said:

This is so true! My utility company won’t pay us a cent for any electricity we send to the grid. We get “electricity credits” that can be used during the winter. During annual true-up, they just wipe our balance of credits to zero.

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My utility does a mix of this. Whatever extra I send to the utility each month gets banked into a kwh credit pool. So if I use a little extra from the utility one month, that same amount gets pulled from my kWh credit bank to offset the amount I used. During the true-up period the utility takes whatever kwh credits remained at the end of the year and applies it to the Feb bill in dollars for whatever the kwhs are worth.

‘There are utilities in other parts of this state that aren’t as generous. And if I lived in those areas, I’d have a battery storage solution attached to my solar system. Bc those utilities give you cash credit using their fuel costs for any extra that you send to them, which isn’t in your favor. And you’re still paying the per kWh for the non-fuel portion if you don’t cover enough of your usage.