The collision of two major market transitions (shift to EV’s and shift to densification of housing) has created concern that the electricity grid will be able to provide the energy required. This study demonstrates that combining onsite generation and batteries with intelligent energy management has the ability to address this issue.
Introduction
The collision of two major market transitions (shift to EV’s and shift to densification of housing) has created concern that the electricity grid will be able to provide the energy required. This study demonstrates that combining onsite generation and batteries with intelligent energy management has the ability to address this issue.
The Problem
As the residential market in Canada is moving towards densification to satisfy the growing population in urban centres, there is growing interest in providing EV chargers for high density residential facilities. This is evidenced with the growth of Unico Power in this market with over 100 installations in Western Canada.
High density residential developers and condo owners recognize the growing demand for EV chargers at their facilities – and that there is strong motivation to maintain the value of their properties by providing an EV charging capability.
One of the biggest challenges for EV charging in high density residential buildings is the peak power demand. In a residential complex, the cars tend to plug-in to chargers when the electricity demand is at its highest – around 5-8pm. Without intelligent power management, a large number of EV chargers will dramatically increase the peak demand for the grid. This has a significant impact on the cost of electricity at the facility.
Intelligent Power Management
Cerebro™ from Unico Power provides intelligent power management for EV charging in high density residential buildings by watching the peak demand of the building and not allowing EV chargers to exceed this limit. The result is that the EV’s have no impact on the peak demand for the grid. However, there is a limit to the number of EV’s that will be fully charged by the morning before the buildings peak demand will need to increase.
A study at a high density residential facility has shown that the EV’s return to the chargers with 80 to 90% of charge remaining and only require an average of 4kW for three hours to return to a full charge. The energy required for each EV was monitored over a one year period. This shows that the majority of charge sessions required less than 6kWh over 1.3 hours.
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