Image Courtesy of Tesla Motors
Remember the joke, Is your refrigerator running? Well now it just might be running off of your car. The technology of the future, is well, coming in the future. Electric vehicle owners are now only a few short months away from being able to connect their LEAF or maybe even their Brand New TESLA Model S (being delivered this Friday) to their home not just for a recharge but as back up power.
Electric Vehicle owners are going to be on the forefront of self sustainability. The Nissan LEAF’s huge lithium ion battery offers about 6KW of raw power when plugged in. This is certainly enough to keep your refrigerator, some fans and lights going after a power outage. Currently the EV plugs only flow power in one direction, re-charge. New technology likely to be commercialized within the next few years, or sooner, will allow EV owners to plug their car into their home for a charge like normal but the new device will allow energy to flow out of the car through a protected loads (back up) panel if the power goes out.
This is a natural marriage between EV technology and solar power. This can be a huge benefit for owners of solar power systems. In an outage the solar energy that they make during the day may be able to be used to recharge their car as they keep their refrigerator powered up or watch their local morning news. Solar energy system owners would be benefiting from an almost perpetual energy machine while their neighbors struggle with poorly maintained gas generators and extension cords.
People who are thinking about investing in solar with battery back up are better off buying grid tied solar with no batteries and adding the Electric car. Not only will they save a fortune and the space in their garage the huge battery bank would take up, the savings they get from owning both will likely pay for their back up connection upgrade when it becomes available.
Expect more or even ALL solar and auto manufacturers starting down this path as both technologies are becoming more and more affordable every day. Who knows maybe you will be able to purchase or lease both at the same time. In the meantime contact us for a quote on new solar system!
Justin
“If you wanna try to save the world the world with me, we’re gonna have to try” – Average Joe Grey
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Justin Hoysradt is the VP of Sales & Marketing for Abundant Energy and currently oversees the Sales and Marketing activities for both Florida and New Jersey operations Connect with him on Linkedin or Follow him on twitter.
Abundant Energy is a solar energy contractor in both Florida and New Jersey and has installed more than 12,000 solar energy systems for home and business owners.